Microarrays and their manufacture

• US 6,713,309 B1
• Filed: 01/13/2000
• Issued: 03/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Large Scale Proteomics Corporation
• Original Assignee: Large Scale Proteomics Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, N. Leigh, Anderson, Norman G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Christopher L.
• Application Number:
  US09/482,460
• Time in Patent Office: 1,538 Days
• Field of Search: 436/518, 436/524, 436/527, 436/805, 437/2.11, 437/2.13
• US Class Current: 436/518
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/0046 Sequential or parallel reactions, e.g. for the synthesis of polypeptides or polynucleotides; Apparatus and devices for combinatorial chemistry or for making molecular arrays synthesis methods per se C40B50/00
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00515 in the shape of strings
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0052 in the shape of elongated tubes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00524 in the shape of fiber bundles
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00547 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00585 Parallel processes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00596 Solid-phase processes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00605 the compounds being directly bound or immobilised to solid supports
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0061 The surface being organic
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00612 the surface being inorganic
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00617 by chemical means
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00619 using hydrophilic or hydrophobic regions
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00621 by physical means, e.g. trenches, raised areas
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00626 Covalent
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0063 Other, e.g. van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonding
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00637 by coating it with another layer
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00644 the porous medium being present in discrete locations, e.g. gel pads
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00659 Two-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00664 Three-dimensional arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00673 Slice arrays
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00707 : separated from the reactor apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/0072 : Organic compounds
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00722 : Nucleotides
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/00731 : Saccharides
• CPC Class Codes: B01L 3/50857 : using arrays or bundles of open capillaries for holding samples
• CPC Class Codes: C12Q 1/6837 : using probe arrays or probe chips C12Q1/6874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C40B 40/06 : Libraries containing nucleotides or polynucleotides, or derivatives thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C40B 40/12 : Libraries containing saccharides or polysaccharides, or derivatives thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C40B 70/00 : Tags or labels specially adapted for combinatorial chemistry or libraries, e.g. fluorescent tags or bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2500/00 : Screening for compounds of potential therapeutic value
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/5436 : with ligand physically entrapped within the solid phase liposomes G01N33/5432; immunological test elements G01N33/54386
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/54366 : Apparatus specially adapted for solid-phase testing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 435/808 : Optical sensing apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 436/805 : Optical property
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 436/809 : Multifield plates or multicontainer arrays
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 442/20 : Coated or impregnated woven, knit, or nonwoven fabric which is not [a] associated with another preformed layer or fiber layer or, [b] with respect to woven and knit, characterized, respectively, by a particular or differential weave or knit, wherein the coating or impregnation is neither a foamed material nor a free metal or alloy layer

Abstract

The microarrays of the present invention are prepared by using a separate fiber for each compound being used in the microarray. The fibers are bundled and sectioned to form a thin microarray that is glued to a backing.

Claims

1. A method for making an array comprising;

cutting a fiber bundle transversely or at an angle to form a section,

wherein said fiber bundle comprises a plurality of fibers attached to each other in a fixed position with respect to each other such that the fixed position with respect to each other is maintained after cutting,

wherein the fibers have different agents of interest immobilized in or on different fibers, and

wherein at least some of the plurality of fibers are fibers from solidified liquid containing a molecule of interest or wherein the different agents of interest are immobilized in or on different fibers after the fibers of the fiber bundle were in a fixed position with respect to each other.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid containing the molecule of interest is cast into a fiber.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid contains a polymer gelling material.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the liquid contains a polymerizable monomer.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the molecule of interest is immobilized in a preformed fiber.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising mounting said section to a solid support to form an array.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the fiber bundle has at least 100 different fibers.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein at least some of the fibers in the fiber bundle comprise a plurality of solid phases immobilizing said agents of interest wherein said solid phases are immobilized in or on the fibers.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said solid phases are solid or porous particles.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said cutting cuts some of the solid phases in two.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein fibers in the array contain different concentrations of one of the agents of interest.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein each fiber contains no more than one of the agents of interest.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the section contains portions of each fiber.

14. A method for making an array comprising;

cutting a fiber bundle transversely or at an angle to form a section less than about 50 microns thick,

wherein said fiber bundle comprises a plurality of fibers attached to each other in a fixed position with respect to each other such that the fixed position with respect to each other is maintained after cutting, and wherein the fibers have different agents of interest immobilized in or on different fibers.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the fibers in the array contain different concentrations of the same agent of interest.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the section is less than about 20 microns thick.

17. The method of claim 14 wherein the section is less than about 10 microns thick.