There are many types of microarrays based on the probes used. Some of these microarrays include: DNA microarrays, MMChips, cellular microarrays, tissue microarrays, antibody microarrays, protein microarrays, phenotype arrays, and peptide microarrays.
- DNA microarrays, also known as gene chips, measure DNA or use DNA as a part of its detection system. The four types of DNA microarrays include cDNA microarrays, oligo DNA microarrays, SNP microarrays, and BAC microarrays.
- MMChipsallow the analysis of cross-platform and between-laboratory data. It analyzes interactions between DNA and proteins. ChIP-chip and ChIP-seq are the two techniques used for this array.
- Protein microarraysact as a platform for the identification of hundreds of thousands of proteins in a highly parallel manner. The three types of protein microarrays are functional protein microarrays, reverse-phase protein microarrays, and analytical protein microarrays.
- Cellular microarrays, also called transfection microarrays, are used for screening large-scale chemical and genomic libraries and investigating the local cellular microenvironment.
- Antibody microarrays, also called antibody chips, are protein-specific microarrays which contain a group of capture antibodies arranged inside a microscope slide. These arrays are used for detecting antigens.
- Tissue microarraysare utilized to analyze the expression of proteins simultaneously in multiple tissue samples on one slide. They are made of small-tissue cores from areas of interest in paraffin-embedded tissues.
- Peptide microarrays are used for the analysis or optimization of protein-protein interactions. It assists in antibody recognition by screening proteomes.
- Phenotype microarraysare primarily used in drug development. They are able to quantitatively measure thousands of cellular phenotypes simultaneously. They are also used in functional genomics and toxicological testing.