Hydrophilic methacrylate monoliths as platforms for protein microarray

Hydrophilic macroporous monolithic materials based on a copolymer of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate with glycerol dimethacrylate was synthesized by photo-initiated free-radical polymerization of monomers in a presence of the low molecular mass porogens, such as cyclohexanol, dodecanol, toluene and heptane, as well as the solutions of hydrophobic polymers, namely, polystyrene of different molecular weights and concentrations in toluene, and poly(dimethyl siloxane) in heptane. The Hildebrand solubility parameters were used to predict the diluent-polymer compatibility. Pore size distribution and surface area characterization have been assessed by mercury intrusion porosimetry; scanning electron microscopy was used to evaluate the differences in macroporous morphology obtained with different porogenic agents. The monolithic materials were covalently attached to a glass surface directly at polymerization step. Monolithic layers were applied as platforms for microarrays to accomplish highly sensitive solid-phase protein analysis. The efficiency of developed microarrays was demonstrated using mouse IgG and goat anti-mouse IgG as a model affinity pair.