Using antibody arrays to detect protein-protein interactions

The antibody array technique is a step in the direction of high-throughput screens, similar to the cDNA or oligonucleotide arrays that have been developed for gene profiling. Antibody arrays allow for rapid screening of multiple potential interactions, confirmation of which is relatively simple, given the state of technology now available for co-immunoprecipitation, confocal immunolocalization and mass spectrometry. In this Chapter we review this powerful method, using as an example the study of protein-protein interactions involving connexin, the protein subunit that forms gap junction channels.