The ProteinChip Biomarker System from Ciphergen Biosystems: a novel proteomics platform for rapid biomarker discovery and validation.

Protein biochips are emerging in two distinct formats. The first involves high-density immobilized arrays of recognition molecules (e.g. antibodies), where target binding is monitored indirectly (e.g. via fluorescence). This technology is in its infancy, being limited by the availability of suitable binding molecules that can cope effectively with protein diversity. The second format involves the capture of proteins by biochemical or intermolecular interaction, coupled with direct detection by MS. This technology is available as the ProteinChip Biomarker System. ProteinChip technology uses surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization processes to analyse proteins directly from biological samples. Chromatographic surfaces are placed on to ProteinChip Arrays and used to capture subclasses of proteins, dependent on their physical properties. Time-of-flight MS then assigns native molecular masses to the captured proteins. Reproducible protein profiles can be generated from crude biological fluids (e.g. cell lysates, urine or serum). The technology is being applied to a wide range of disciplines, from plant sciences to cancer research, and will be reviewed here.