Microfluidic print-to-synthesis enabled combinatorial peptide microarray for cancer targeting

This paper reports our newly developed microfluidic print-to-screen (MPS) platform and its application for synthesizing combinatorial peptide on PEG microdisc array. The MPS platform possesses several distinct features including easy operation, free of contamination, multiplexibility, low cost, high throughput and array density. The performance of the MPS system is characterized and, as proof of concept, a tetrapeptide library was constructed with an array density of 2560 spots/slide using the MPS approach. The library was screened for ligands targeting α4β1 integrin overexpressed on tumor cell plasma membranes. Repeatable outcomes demonstrate the feasibility of the MPS platform, as well as identification of positive sequences that actively bind to tumor cells.