Adhesiomics - Testing Protein-Protein Interaction of Cell Adhesion Proteins on Microarrays

Protein microarray technology was used recently for targetoriented screening of chemically synthesized compound libraries or isolated natural compounds on Heat-Shock Proteins (Hsp), since Hsps together with the accompanied stress proteome are relevant targets in cancer and pathogenic organism [1-9]. An extended application of this method showed recently that the microarray technology enables also studies of protein-protein interaction to enable a broader application range [4,7]. The basic prerequisite for the formation of multicellular organisms is the ability of a single cell to communicate with neighboring cells. Molecules responsible for this intercellular communication are adhesion molecules like IgCAMs or gap junctions. The adhesion molecules represent a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily of Cell Adhesion Molecules (Ig-CAM). The protein has an extracellular domain, a transmembrane domain, as well as a highly conserved cytoplasmic tail.