Microarrayed Allergen Molecules for Diagnostics of Allergy

With the evolution of peptide synthesis techniques and microarray technology, it is now possible to map and characterize allergenic epitopes on a microarray platform. The peptide microarray-based immunoassay allows simultaneous analysis of thousands of target peptides using small volumes of diluted serum samples, and has a promising future to become a superior testing tool for aspects of food allergy diagnosis and prognosis, as well as for designing recombinant allergens for safe immunotherapy. Characterization of allergenic epitopes provides fundamental knowledge for understanding mechanisms of food allergy. This chapter describes in detail the development of a sensitive and reliable peptide microarray-based immunoassay. The information includes a comparison of different slide substrates, effect of buffers on spot morphology, performance of printing pins, immunolabeling detection systems with different levels of sensitivity, and suggested approaches to data analysis.