| abstract |
Method and apparatus for synthesizing a combinatorial library of families of biopolymers, such as polypeptides, oligonucleotides and oligosaccharides, on a reusable, spatially addressable solid phase plate (5'), typically in arrays of 4x4 to 400x400. In the case of peptides, such as synthesis of hexapeptides, the library contains one to three, typically two, positions in the sequence which are uniquely identified by the spatial address location. The preferred plate (5') embodiment employs a hydrophilic polar multi-functionalized polymer film coating discs or 'winks' (50) of porous polyolefin which are removably received in holes (51) in the plate (5'). The plate (5') is employed with a vacuum block system (46, 47, 48) to assist in washing, deprotection of protected monomers, such as FMOC protected amino acids, and screening of immobilized, synthesized hexapeptides, for example, to determine which synthetic hexapeptides specifically bind to functional target proteins, such as enzymes, receptors and antibodies. Following identification of the known synthetic polypeptides giving the greatest affinity for the arrayed positions in the sequence, optimal binding for the complete peptide sequence is determined by an iterative process replacing formerly mixed positions with known amino acids at defined spatial addresses. |