Pharmaceutical Proteomics

Amazing Engineering - Video


Other Unique Engineering Ideas

"To really understand biological processes, we need to understand how proteins function in and around cells since they are the functioning units," says Hanno Steen, director of the Proteomics Center at Children's Hospital Boston.

1. Description

2. Why

3. How

4. Future Trends

5. Related Links

Description

Proteomics is emerging as the next grand challenge as illustrated by the human proteomics initiative that is now underway. Here, the protein shape is central to understanding its activity and function which is in contrast to the importance of sub-unit sequencing for DNA.Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, as they are the main components of the physiological metabolic pathways of cells. The term "proteomics" was coined to make an analogy with genomics, the study of the genes. The word "proteome" is a blend of "protein" and "genome". The proteome is the entire complement of proteins, including the modifications made to a particular set of proteins, produced by an organism or system. This will vary with time and distinct requirements, or stresses, that a cell or organism undergoes.

Why

Although protein purification, analysis and arrays will be of importance, the effect of immobilisation, their delicacy and the importance of protein-protein interaction are likely to result in a requirement for a more diverse and advanced range of technologies to gain a more complete picture of the life sciences.The proteome is defined as the sum of all proteins present in a cell (or cell compartment), a tissue or complete organism in a defined state. In contrast to the genome, the proteome is not static but depends on the cell cycle and developmental stage of an organism as well as physiological and pathological conditions.

For example, egg, caterpillar, nymph and butterfly of a particular species all have the same genome, but have completely different proteomes. The proteome can be better compared with the “transcriptome”, which is the entirety of all genes expressed at a particular time. However, the number of proteins of a particular cell is often considerably larger than the number of active genes (400,000 proteins but only 25,000 genes).

How

Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions. It is estimated that humans have approximately 400,000 proteins but only 25,000 genes. This enormous difference in number is due to the posttranscriptional modification of mRNA. One of the most important mechanisms responsible for the increased diversity at the mRNA level is a process known as alternative splicing.The components of the proteome do not usually appear in the cell as individual constituents but as a tight network of multiprotein complexes, which are molecular factories that are interconnected and regulated by components and processes that are common to all constituents of a particular multiprotein complex.The task of studying the proteome has its share of challenges. One involves the sheer number of proteins that need to be identified. The 35,000 genes in the human genome can code for at least ten times as many proteins; in extreme cases a single gene alone can code for over 1,000.Another challenge is that amino acids -- the base units of proteins -- are so small. Each amino acid is made from anywhere between 7 and 24 atoms. This is far beyond the reach of even the most powerful microscopes.By separating the proteins can determine the sequence of amino acids that make up proteins., breaking them up into smaller pieces, and using mass spectrometers to, in effect, "weigh" each amino acid.Each type of amino acid has a unique mass, making identification relatively straightforward. By identifying and sequencing these smaller pieces, researchers can then determine the identity of the protein they make up.

Future Trends

German researchers and companies have always played an important part in proteomics. The German Society for Proteomics (DGPF), integrating proteomics researchers, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and providers of technologies for biochemical analysis, has set itself the goal of reinforcing Germany’s lead in the clarification of drug-relevant protein functions. Currently, the quality assurance of data obtained is one of the Society’s major objectives.Proteomics attracts the attention of scientists all over the world. For example, the “Human Proteome Organization” (HUPO) was established in 2001 in analogy to the “Human Genome Organization” (HUGO). Last year’s HUPO congress was held in Munich; the next congress will be held in Kyoto, Japan, from 18th to 23rd June.Apart from HUPO, there are numerous associations and events focusing on proteomics, including the international proteomics workshop held in February 2006 at the NMI in Reutlingen, and the European Pharmaceutical Proteomics Laboratory, a forum of proteomics-oriented pharmaceutical companies, which will meet in April 2006 in the Merck headquarters in Darmstadt.

Keywords

Pharmaceutical proteome research, Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, Functional genomics,  Metabolic engineering, Structural Genomics 

Related Articles

Related Link