Protein microarrays for the diagnosis of allergic diseases: state-of-the-art and future development.

In the emerging field of Proteomics, protein microarrays represent an elegant solution for the simultaneous analysis of the (i) abundance, (ii) function and (iii) interaction of proteins on a system-wide scale. The great power of microarray-based miniature solid-phase immunoassays lies in their potential to investigate in parallel large numbers of analyte pairs while employing only minute amounts of biological sample material (e.g., serum). This has inspired researchers to adopt this approach to the development of novel diagnostic tests with to date published examples in the fields of autoimmune diseases, allergy and cancer. Here, we discuss recent advancements in the development of protein microarrays for the profiling of IgE antibodies in the diagnosis of Type-1 related allergic diseases.