A fluorescent amino acid probe to monitor efficiency of peptide conjugation to glass surfaces for high density microarrays.

Using a fluorescent NBD amino acid, new protease substrates were developed that are attractive because of the excellent chemical stability and long wavelength of excitation (480 nm) of the NBD fluorophore. The fluorescent peptides are synthesized by Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis. An example peptide was efficiently immobilized onto a microarray surface using click chemistry, and its proteolysis was monitored by fluorescence imaging. Excellent site specificity was achieved for the protease. Fluorescent peptides are also used to monitor the conjugation efficiency onto a surface using a standard microarray scanner.