Proteomics
Proteomics · Biochemistry · Molecular Biology
Say it: proh-tee-OH-miks
Proteomics is the large-scale study of the proteome, the full set of proteins in a cell, tissue or organism, including their amounts, changes and interactions.
Also: proteome analysis
Definition
What is proteomics?
Proteomics studies proteins in bulk rather than one at a time. Its subject is the proteome: all the proteins present in a particular cell, tissue, organism or condition at a given time. Researchers ask which proteins are there, how much of each, where in the cell they sit, which chemical tags they carry and which partners they bind.
The genome is nearly the same in every cell of the body, but the proteome is not. It differs between cell types and shifts with age, disease, diet and drugs. Protein levels also do not simply mirror messenger RNA levels, because proteins are made and destroyed at different rates and are modified after translation, for example by phosphorylation. Measuring proteins directly therefore reveals things that sequencing genes or transcripts cannot.
The main tool is mass spectrometry, usually after proteins are cut into peptides with the enzyme trypsin; gel-based separation is also used. Proteomics helps find markers of disease, map signaling pathways and identify drug targets, and the huge datasets it produces are shared through public repositories such as PRIDE.
Word parts
Where does the word “proteomics” come from?
- prote-
- protein, from a word for first or primaryGreek protos, via protein
- -ome
- the complete set ofmodeled on genome
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Terms that go with it
- ProteinA protein is a large molecule made of one or more chains of amino acids, folded into a specific shape that determines its job in the body.
- Mass spectrometryMass spectrometry is an analytical technique that turns molecules into charged ions and sorts them by mass-to-charge ratio to identify and measure them.
- Post-translational modificationA post-translational modification is a chemical change made to a protein after it is built on the ribosome, often altering its activity or location.
- TranscriptomeThe transcriptome is the full set of RNA molecules made in a cell, tissue or organism at a given time, showing which genes are active.
- Gene expressionGene expression is the use of a gene's information to make a working product, usually a protein or a functional RNA molecule.
- GenomeA genome is the complete set of DNA in an organism or cell, including all of its genes and the stretches of DNA between them.
Sources
Checked against
Written for biofideX in plain words, after checking these references:
- NCBI MeSH: Proteomics
- NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms: proteomics
- EMBL-EBI Training: What is proteomics?
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