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Proteomics

What is proteomics?

Proteomics monitors gene expression - the active and outward effects of the gene. Proteomics studies how proteins reflect the current condition of the body and its interaction with drugs. While the presence or lack of genes may indicate disease, proteins can help determine if the disease is attacking the body and how this attack is taking place. In pharmaceutical studies, the term proteomics is commonly used to describe the research effort of discovering how drugs affect or interact with proteins.

What are some common techniques used in proteomics?

Proteomic gene expression profiling techniques permit the analysis of the expression levels of thousands of genes simultaneously both in health and disease, and allow a high-throughput analysis. In addition, these technologies offer a systematic approach for searching for effective targets for drug discovery and diagnostics. Several techniques have been developed for the purpose including mass spectrometry. High-throughput approaches include combining two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) with peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) analysis, and protein arrays.

What are the downfalls of current proteomic techniques?

The current methods require large amounts of protein products due to insensitive detection methods and a narrow analytic range. (The amount of protein obtained from samples may span through seven to eight orders of magnitude.)

What are the benefits of RAM/HSAM in proteomics?

Applying RAM/HSAM to the above techniques allows more sensitive detection of proteins with a much wider dynamic range. Furthermore, only a small amount of sample material is required for the RAM assay, making rapid and high throughput analysis possible.

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