Protein Array

Protein Array Services: Forward and Reverse Phase Platforms

At Axela, we provide comprehensive protein array solutions, offering both Forward Phase Protein Arrays (FPPA) and Reverse Phase Protein Arrays (RPPA) to meet diverse research needs.

Forward Phase Protein Arrays are ideal for high-throughput biomarker discovery and validation. Antibodies are immobilized on the array surface to capture proteins from complex biological samples, enabling the simultaneous detection and quantification of hundreds of proteins. This approach is particularly powerful for profiling signaling pathways, studying disease-related biomarkers, and screening therapeutic targets.

Reverse Phase Protein Arrays are optimized for quantitative protein expression and phosphorylation analysis across large sample sets. In this format, protein lysates from multiple samples are spotted onto the array, and detection is carried out with high-specificity antibodies. RPPA is widely used in translational research, oncology, and clinical studies to track pathway activation, monitor treatment responses, and identify predictive biomarkers.

Strengths and Applications of Protein Arrays

Forward Phase Protein Array (FPPA)

Strengths:

  • High-throughput profiling with the ability to measure hundreds of proteins simultaneously

  • Excellent for biomarker discovery, validation, and pathway analysis

  • Sensitive detection of low-abundance proteins from complex samples

  • Scalable and customizable panels tailored to research needs

Applications:

  • Biomarker identification in oncology, immunology, and neurology

  • Drug discovery and screening for therapeutic target validation

  • Pathway profiling to study protein networks and disease mechanisms

  • Multiplex analysis of serum, plasma, cell culture supernatants, and tissue lysates

Reverse Phase Protein Array (RPPA)

Strengths:

  • Highly quantitative and reproducible across large sample sets

  • Requires only small amounts of starting material

  • Sensitive to post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation

  • Suitable for comparative studies across many patient or experimental samples

Applications:

  • Clinical research: monitoring treatment responses and patient stratification

  • Oncology studies: tracking signaling pathway activation and therapeutic resistance

  • Translational research: bridging preclinical and clinical data

  • Large-scale studies involving hundreds of samples for biomarker verification

Service Deliverables

With Axela’s protein array services, you receive comprehensive, ready-to-use datasets that ensure both depth and clarity. Each project delivers a structured spreadsheet with sample identifiers and quantified expression levels for every target protein, provided in raw, normalized, and median-centered formats. To aid interpretation, we supply paired heatmaps—both supervised and unsupervised—that visualize protein expression patterns across your samples. A detailed study report accompanies every dataset, summarizing results and highlighting key biological insights, making your data immediately actionable for downstream research.

Validation With Western Blot

Accuracy and reproducibility are central to our workflow. To validate array results, we perform parallel analyses using Western blot, the gold standard for protein detection. The example shown demonstrates AKT phosphorylation across 14 cancer cell lines, analyzed under identical culture conditions by both RPPA and Western blot. Results are presented as relative fluorescence intensity (RFI) values from RPPA, directly compared with raw Western blot images. This head-to-head validation confirms that our protein array platform delivers robust, quantitative, and trustworthy results you can rely on for critical decisions.

Have questions? Ask Axela — we’re here to help.
📧 info@axelabio.com