Protein chip analysis by probing time-resolved UV fluorescence

We describe a novel label-free method to analyse protein interactions on microarrays as well as in solution. By this technique the time resolved native protein fluorescence in the UV is probed. The method is based on alterations of the protein upon ligand binding, and, as a consequence, of alterations of the environment of the proteins' aromatic amino acids. These amino acids act as internal probes, and as a result, the fluorescence lifetime of the proteins change due to binding to a ligand partner such as another protein. We were able to demonstrate the feasibility of the method with many compounds, including protein-protein, protein-antibody, protein-nucleic acid and protein-small ligand pairs. Unlike to many other label-free techniques, the sensitivity of the method does not depend on the size of the counterbinding ligand and therefore is particularly suitable for drug monitoring, when small molecules are involved.