Introduction and Application of Microarray Chip

1. Definition of Microarray Chip

Microarray chip involves using light-guided in-situ synthesis or micro-spotting methods to solidify a large number of biological macromolecules (such as nucleic acid fragments, polypeptide molecules) and even biological samples (such as tissue sections, cells) on supports (eg., glass slides, nylon membranes) in an orderly manner. These molecules then react with target molecules in the labeled biological sample to be tested, and the intensity of the response signal is measured by specific instruments (such as a laser confocal scanner or a charge-coupled camera) for rapid parallel, and efficient detection and analysis to determine the number of target molecules in a sample.

2. Microarray Chip Application Process

(1) Preparation of targets

Extract and label nucleotides from biological specimens

(2) Hybridization

Incubate the target with the cDNA or oligonucleotide sequence on the chip

(3) Get data

Scan the signal intensity exhibited by the target hybridized to the probe

(4) Data analysis

Draw biologically meaningful conclusions from large amounts of data

Microarray chip technology reflects the transcription of genes expressing this mRNA by measuring the amount of mRNA that can hybridize with the probe. Chip construction begins with selecting genes and the corresponding probe according to the needs of the research, then exacting the mRNA from the sample, and preparing the target. Next, apply the target to the chip, followed by incubation for hybridization, washing off unhybridized samples and scanning to obtain raw data. These data are then standardized and statistically analyzed to get the conclusion. Constructing an appropriate microarray chip is the basis for the follow-up research.