Cell and tissue arrays and microarrays and methods of use

An apparatus for preparing an array for biological samples comprising:

• an arrayer having a body and a plurality of pins protruding from the body, wherein each pin has a first end affixed to the body and a free end opposite the first end;
• an embedding mold having a bottom surface;
• and
• a temperature-sensitive matrix contained within the embedding mold, wherein the temperature-sensitive matrix has a freezing temperature below a freezing temperature of the biological samples.

A biological array comprising:

• a matrix having a plurality of wells disposed therein;
• one or more biological samples contained in one or more of the plurality of wells;
• and
• one or more internal standard preparations contained in one or more of the plurality of wells, the internal standard preparation comprising a standard molecule admixed in an embedding material, wherein the embedding material differs from the matrix in at least one physical or chemical property.

A method of making a biological array comprising:

• preparing a matrix having a plurality of wells disposed therein;
• mixing a standard molecule with an embedding material to form an internal standard preparation, wherein the embedding material differs from the matrix in at least one physical or chemical property;
• inserting the internal standard preparation into one or more of the plurality of wells in the matrix;
• and
• inserting a sample into one or more of the plurality of wells in the matrix.

A method for detecting a biological molecule in an array, the method comprising:

• mixing a known quantity of the biological molecule with an embedding material so as to provide an internal standard preparation;
• inserting the internal standard preparation into one or more of a plurality of the wells in an array recipient block, the array recipient block comprising a matrix that differs from the embedding material by one or more physical or chemical properties;
• inserting one or more samples into one or more of the plurality of wells in the array recipient block to form an array;
• performing an analytical procedure on the array;
• and
• correlating a result of the analytical procedure on the internal standard preparation to a result of the analytical procedure on the sample to determine detection of the biological molecule in the sample.

A cellular microarray made by a method comprising:

• engaging an arrayer having a plurality of pins with an embedding mold and a fluid temperature-sensitive matrix such that the matrix and the pins are contained within the embedding mold, wherein the embedding mold has a bottom surface;
• freezing the matrix within the embedding mold to solidify the matrix;
• removing the arrayer pins from the matrix and the embedding mold to form a plurality of wells disposed within the solid temperature-sensitive matrix;
• inserting two or more biological samples into the plurality of wells to form an array of biological samples;
• slicing the array to form one or more array slices, wherein each array slice has an array of transverse sections of biological sample corresponding to the array of biological samples;
• mounting one or more of the array slices on a planar substrate surface;
• and
• removing the temperature-sensitive matrix material from platform to form a microarray of transverse sections of biological sample.

A cellular microarray made by a method comprising:

• preparing a matrix having a plurality of wells disposed therein;
• mixing a standard molecule with an embedding material to form an internal standard preparation, wherein the embedding material differs from the matrix in at least one physical or chemical property;
• inserting the internal standard preparation into one or more of the plurality of wells in the matrix;
• inserting a biological sample into one or more of the plurality of wells in the matrix;
• slicing the array to form one or more array slices;
• mounting one or more of the array slices on a planar substrate;
• and
• removing the matrix from the substrate.

A cellular microarray comprising:

• a substrate comprising a planar surface;
• one or more cellular biological samples on the surface;
• and
• one or more internal standard preparations on the surface, the internal standard preparation comprising a standard molecule admixed in an embedding material.