Proteomics in medical microbiology

The techniques of proteomics (high resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis and protein characterisation) are widely used for microbiological research to analyse global protein synthesis as an indicator of gene expression. The rapid progress in microbial proteomics has been achieved through the wide availability of whole genome sequences for a number of bacterial groups. Beyond providing a basic understanding of microbial gene expression, proteomics has also played a role in medical areas of microbiology. Progress has been made in the use of the techniques for investigating the epidemiology and taxonomy of human microbial pathogens, the identification of novel pathogenic mechanisms and the analysis of drug resistance. In each of these areas, proteomics has provided new insights that complement genomic-based investigations. This review describes the current progress in these research fields and highlights some of the technical challenges existing for the application of proteomics in medical microbiology. The latter concern the analysis of genetically heterogeneous bacterial populations and the integration of the proteomic and genomic data for these bacteria. The characterisation of the proteomes of bacterial pathogens growing in their natural hosts remains a future challenge.     

蛋白质组学技术前沿进展

蛋白质组学是以生物体系整体蛋白质为研究对象的新的研究领域,已经成为后基因时代中生命科学最重要研究方向之一。 近年来,蛋白质组学研究取得了令人鼓舞的进展,一系列新技术与新方法得到了快速的发展。 本文总结了2013年以来蛋白质组学研究的有关新技术,并对其发展进行了展望。     

Proteomics. Concepts and perspectives

Within the last five years the field of proteomics has changed the understanding of molecular biology. Proteins manifest physiological as well as pathophysiological processes in a cell or an organism, and proteomics describes the complete protein inventory in dependence on in vivo parameters. Disease mechanism or drug effects both affect a protein profile and, vice versa, characterising protein profiles reveals information for the understanding of disease and therapy. Analytical methods for proteomics are based on conventional tools for protein characterisation. The technical challenge is the complete coverage of physico-chemical properties for thousands of proteins. Nucleic acids display a relative chemical homogeneity and therefore genomics was considered more promising in the past than proteomics. Further improvements in proteomics technologies will likely change this course with proteomics complementing genomics as a tool to study life sciences.     

差异蛋白质组学研究技术新进展

随着多项基因组计划的完成,人们越来越倾向于借助蛋白质组学手段在整体水平研究复杂蛋白质样品。差异蛋白质组学比较不同生物体在不同时刻,状态下蛋白质表达的变化,已广泛应用于各种研究。相关技术的建立成为蛋白质组学的一个核心技术问题。不同方法对蛋白质差异分析的能力和原理不同,可分为提供相对含量信息的定量差异分析技术和提供有,无信息的定性差异分析技术。此外。还有专门技术用于蛋白质修饰的差异分析。多种技术手段的结合应用以及自动化、高通量分析已成为趋势,修饰研究成为新的研究热点,这些均将促进相关技术的进一步发展。本文介绍了差异蛋白组学研究技术及其进展。     

蛋白质组学中磷酸化肽的常用富集方法

磷酸化作用是最重要的蛋白质翻译后修饰方式之一,它是蛋白质组学的一个重要分支,在细胞识别、细胞信息传递、基因表达和新陈代谢等方面发挥着重要作用。采用适当方法对磷酸化肽进行分析有助于我们更好地了解生理病理机制。但是直接进行质谱分析时磷酸化肽的信号强度会受到无机盐以及大量非磷酸化肽的抑制,选择性差。为解决这一难题,在质谱分析前要对磷酸化肽进行选择性富集。本文回顾了几种常用的磷酸化肽富集方法,介绍了每种方法的发展状况和常用材料,其中包括固定金属离子亲和色谱法、金属氧化物富集法、强阴阳离子交换色谱法和MALDI靶板富集法。最后总结了各种富集方法的优缺点,对有效的磷酸化肽富集策略进行了前景展望。     

Phthalates determination in pharmaceutical formulae used in parenteral nutrition by LC-ES-MS: importance in public health

A method for determining a group of phthalate esters in pharmaceutical formulae used in parenteral nutrition samples (with and without vitamins) has been developed. The phthalic acid esters (PAEs) studied were dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, butyl benzyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and dioctyl phthalate. This group of phthalates was determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)–electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry, working in positive ion mode. The phthalates analyzed were extracted from the sample using hexane and sodium hydroxide. The hexane was then evaporated, and the compounds were redissolved in acetonitrile. The compounds were separated by HPLC working in gradient mode with acetonitrile-ultrapure water starting from 5% to 75% acetonitrile in 5 min, followed by isocratic elution for 27 min. Standard calibration curves were linear for all the analytes over the concentration range 10–250 μg L⁻¹. The method was precise (with RSD from 3.3% to 12.9%) and sensitive. The proposed analytical method has been applied to the analysis of these compounds in different pharmaceutical formulae (with different compositions) for parenteral nutrition samples in order to check the presence of phthalates and determine their concentration.     

Proteomics of marine bacteria

Little is known about the life of marine microorganisms under their particular environmental conditions. Genome sequencing combined with the techniques of functional genomics, especially proteome analyses, now open up revolutionary insights into the adaptation strategies marine organisms have evolved in response to the challenges of their habitat. This report summarizes the first approaches and state-of-the-art in the field of proteome analysis of marine bacteria. This includes, amongst others, proteomics on culturable, free-living marine bacteria and on uncultivable bacteria living in symbiosis with higher organisms. Finally, new approaches to determine the metaproteome of uncultured microbial consortia from marine habitats are discussed.     

Proteomics and Its Application in Biomarker Discovery and Drug Development

Proteomics is a research field aiming to characterize molecular and cellular dynamics in protein expression and function on a global level. The introduction of proteomics has been greatly broadening our view and accelerating our path in various medical researches. The most significant advantage of proteomics is its ability to examine a whole proteome or sub-proteome in a single experiment so that the protein alterations corresponding to a pathological or biochemical condition at a given time c…     

Proteomics: applications and opportunities in preclinical drug development

Advances in DNA sequencing and the near-term availability of whole genome sequences for several pharmaceutically relevant organisms promise to dramatically alter the breadth and scale of high-throughput proteomic studies. The substantial amount of literature is available in the public domain, demonstrate the potential of proteomics in the preclinical phases of pharmaceutical development. Over the next few years, it is anticipated that functional genomics and proteomics will have major impacts on the clinical phases of drug development. Expected benefits are earlier proof-of-concept studies in man and increased efficiency of clinical trials through the availability of biologically relevant markers for drug efficacy and safety.     

蛋白质组研究中的多维液相色谱技术

对近年来蛋白质组研究中的多维液相色谱技术进行了系统综述,洋细介绍了在线及离线式阀切换接口的DALPC（direct analysis of large proein complexes）技术及整体式无接口的MudPIT（muhidimensional protein ideutification technology）系统,也系统阐述了其在蛋白质组研究中的应用。引用文献50篇。     

Proteomics of metal transport and metal-associated diseases

Proteomics technology has the potential to identify groups of proteins that have similar biological function. However, few attempts have been made to identify and characterize metal-binding proteins by using proteomics strategies. Many transition metals are essential to sustain life. Copper, iron, and zinc are the most abundant transition metals relevant to biological systems. In addition to their important biological functions, metals can also catalyze the formation of damaging free radical species. Hence, their intracellular transport is tightly regulated. Despite recent insights into the intracellular transport of copper and other metals, our overall understanding of intracellular metal metabolism remains incomplete and it is likely that many metal-binding proteins remain undiscovered. Furthermore, the protein targets for metals during metal-associated disease states or during exposure to toxic levels of environmental metals are yet to be unravelled. A proteomics strategy for the analysis of metal-transporting or metal-binding proteins has the potential to uncover how a large number of proteins function in normal or metal-associated diseased states. Here we discuss the principal aspects of metal metabolism, and the recent developments in the area of the proteomics of metal transport.     

Proteomics of human cancer tissues and cells

Proteomic analysis of cancer tissues and cells provides valuable information to identify promising targets for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. Novel strategies have emerged to optimize the workflow of tissue procurement, and tissue and cell selection, and to improve protocols for the extraction of protein from fresh, frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue. Moreover, in the context of advanced approaches to proteomics, mass spectrometry and array-based technologies strongly contribute to protein profiling of cancer tissues and cells.The focus of this review is the methods by which all the steps of a proteomic investigation on human-cancer tissue (from choice of the experimental model to validation of candidate biomarkers) should be performed, paying particular attention to recently developed strategies. The review also presents an overview of the most recent high-throughput proteomic studies in cancer research.     

Tin in pharmacy and nutrition

The occurrence of tin in plants, animals and humans is discussed in relation to its abundance in the lithosphere and hydrosphere and the range of different tin(II) and tin(IV) complexes formed. A reasoned consideration of the essentiality or otherwise of tin for living species is given and it is concluded that tin is beneficial even if not yet proved to be an essential element. After reference to the chemistry of tin compounds, there is a detailed discussion of their toxicity in animals and humans. Feasible routes for tin intake and uptake into humans are described. The use of tin pharmaceuticals in previous and current times is reviewed and areas for which they are currently permitted for use in man as dentifrices and mouth washes, as radiopharmaceuticals and for the treatment of jaundiced newborns are described. A detailed review of tin-coating antitumour agents as representative tin pharmaceuticals is given. Finally, a range of tin compounds having other specific pharmaceutical applications and which are currently being investigated are listed.     

Recent Applications of Diazirines in Chemical Proteomics

The elucidation of substrate–protein interactions is an important component of the drug development process. Due to the complexity of native cellular environments, elucidating these fundamental biochemical interactions remains challenging. Photoaffinity labeling (PAL) is a versatile technique that can provide insight into ligand-target interactions. By judicious modification of substrates with a photoreactive group, PAL creates a covalent crosslink between a substrate and its biological target following UV-irradiation. Among the commonly employed photoreactive groups, diazirines have emerged as the gold standard. In this Minireview, recent developments in the field of diazirine-based photoaffinity labeling will be discussed, with emphasis being placed on their applications in chemical proteomic studies.     

Sequence Scrambling in Shotgun Proteomics is Negligible

Analysis of 15,897 low-energy (CAD) and 10,878 higher-energy (HCD) collisional dissociation mass spectra of doubly protonated tryptic peptides taken with high resolution revealed that the rate of sequence scrambling due to b-ion cyclization is negligible (<1%) and can be safely ignored as a possible source of erroneous sequence assignment in shotgun proteomics. On the other hand, there is significant presence of normal (non-scrambled) internal fragments in HCD, which should be taken into account by MS/MS search engines.