Two-Dimensional Electrophoresis for Proteomics :
The Context of Proteomics :
Proteome analysis is a direct measurement of proteins in terms of their presence and relative abundance (Wilkins et al. 1996). The overall aim of a proteomic study is characterization of the complex network of cell regulation. Neither the genomic DNA code of an organism nor the amount of mRNA that is expressed for each gene product (protein) yields an accurate picture of the state of a living cell (Lubec et al. 1999), which can be altered by many conditions . Proteome analysis is required to determine which proteins have been conditionally expressed, how strongly, and whether any posttranslational modifications are affected. Two or more different states of a cell or an organism (e.g., healthy and diseased tissue) can be compared and an attempt made to identify specific qualitative and quantitative protein changes.
One of the greatest challenges of proteome analysis is the reproducible fractionation of these complex protein mixtures while retaining the qualitative and quantitative relationships. Currently, two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) is the only method that can handle this task (Cutler et al. 1999, Fegatella et al. 1999, Görg et al. 2000), and hence has gained special importance. Since 2-D PAGE is capable of resolving over 1,800 proteins in a single gel (Choe and Lee 2000), it is important as the primary tool of proteomics research where multiple proteins must be separated for parallel analysis. It allows hundreds to thousands of gene products to be analyzed simultaneously. In combination with computer assisted image evaluation systems for comprehensive qualitative and quantitative examination of proteomes, this electrophoresis technique allows cataloging and comparison of data among groups of researchers.
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Article by
St.Mary's Group
Pharmacy
