WHY PROTEOME RESEARCH?
Genes encode proteins that are the functional molecules in cells. Proteins provide the building blocks for tissues, transmit messages, repair damage and carry out reactions that are essential for life. There are many more proteins in a proteome than genes in a genome. After transcription from DNA to RNA, the gene transcript (RNA) can be spliced in different ways prior to translation into protein. Following translation, most proteins are chemically changed through post-translational modification, mainly through the addition of carbohydrate and phosphate groups. Proteins interact with each other in the cell. Post-translational modifications and protein-protein interactions play indeed a vital role in modulating the function of many proteins. These dynamic processes have no description at the genomic level. The proteome complexity is indicated by the following statement: “Even restricted to pair-wise interactions, there are tens of billions of possibilities of functionally significant pro
