(Press-News.org) By cataloging over 18,000 proteins, researchers from TUM have produced an almost complete inventory of the human proteome. This information is now freely available in the ProteomicsDB database, which is a joint development of TUM and software company SAP. The database includes information for example on the types, distribution, and abundance of proteins in various cells and tissues as well as in body fluids.
The investigations show that, on the one hand, around 10,000 proteins are concerned with housekeeping processes in many different places. On the other hand, it was also found that the protein profile of every organ is unique and essential for its function. Two high-performance technologies were instrumental for the success of the project – mass spectrometry and in-memory computing.
From blueprint to protein: RNA determines copy numbers
How does a protein arise from a gene? The answer is that it takes several steps for the DNA blueprint to be transcribed into an RNA copy. These messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules then act as a template for the production of a protein. In their study, the researchers demonstrated that each mRNA determines the number of protein copies to be produced by the cell.
This "copying key" is specific to each protein. "It appears that every mRNA molecule knows the unit amount for its protein – so it knows whether to produce 10, 100 or 1,000 copies," explains Prof. Bernhard Küster of the TUM Chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics. "Since we now know this ratio for a large number of proteins, we can infer protein abundance from mRNA abundance in just about every tissue – and vice versa."
New genes – old genes
The researchers were very surprised to discover hundreds of protein fragments that are encoded by DNA outside of currently known genes. These new proteins potentially possess novel biological properties and functions, but the relevance of which is not yet understood.
In contrast, the scientists have so far been unable to locate around 2,000 proteins which ought to exist according to the gene map. Some of these proteins may only exist during embryonic development. However, it also seems that many known genes have become non-functional. This particularly affects olfactory receptors– an indication that modern humans no longer rely on a sophisticated sense of smell to survive.
"We might be watching evolution in action here," declares Küster. "The human organism deactivates superfluous genes – and tests new gene prototypes at the same time." That being the case, it might never be possible to determine exactly how many proteins there are in the human body.
Protein profiles predict drug sensitivity
Earlier studies have shown that specific protein patterns can predict the efficacy of a given drug. In this latest research, the scientists examined 24 cancer drugs whose effectiveness against 35 cancer cell lines were found to correlate strongly with their protein profiles.
According to Küster, "This edges us a little bit closer to the individualized treatment of patients. If we knew the protein profile of a tumor in detail, we might be able to administer drugs in a more targeted way. The new insights also allow medical researchers to investigate combinations of drugs and, thereby, tailoring treatments even more closely to a patient's individual needs."
INFORMATION:
Publication:
Mathias Wilhelm, Judith Schlegl, Hannes Hahne, Amin Moghaddas Gholami, Marcus Lieberenz, Mikhail M. Savitski, Emanuel Ziegler, Lars Butzmann, Siegfried Gessulat, Harald Marx, Toby Mathieson, Simone Lemeer, Karsten Schnatbaum, Ulf Reimer, Holger Wenschuh, Martin Mollenhauer, Julia Slotta-Huspenina, Joos-Hendrik Boese, Marcus Bantscheff, Anja Gerstmair, Franz Faerber & Bernhard Küster, Mass-spectrometry-based draft of the human proteome; Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature13319
Further information:
Protein data base for biomedical research: https://www.tum.de/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/short/article/30911/
Typical protein profile of tumor cells decodedhttps://www.tum.de/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/short/article/30995/
Contact:
Technische Universität München
Chair of Proteomics and Bioanalytics
http://www.wzw.tum.de/proteomics
Prof. Bernhard Küster
Tel.: +49 8161 71 5696
kuster@tum.de
Dr. Hannes Hahne
Tel.: +49 8161 71 4265
hannes.hahne@tum.de
Filling in the gaps on the protein map
TUM scientists decode the human proteome
2014-05-28
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Zeroing in on the proton's magnetic moment
2014-05-28
As part of a series of experiments designed to resolve one of the deepest mysteries of physics today, researchers from RIKEN, in collaboration with the University of Mainz, GSI Darmstadt and the Max Planck Institute for Physics at Heidelberg, have made the most precise ever direct measurement of the magnetic moment of a proton.
The work, published in Nature today, seeks to answer the fundamental question of why we exist at all. It is believed that the Big Bang some 13 billion years ago generated equal amounts of matter and antimatter-which annihilate when they collide-and ...
Extensive cataloging of human proteins uncovers 193 never known to exist
2014-05-28
Striving for the protein equivalent of the Human Genome Project, an international team of researchers has created an initial catalog of the human "proteome," or all of the proteins in the human body. In total, using 30 different human tissues, the team identified proteins encoded by 17,294 genes, which is about 84 percent of all of the genes in the human genome predicted to encode proteins.
In a summary of the effort, to be published May 29 in the journal Nature, the team also reports the identification of 193 novel proteins that came from regions of the genome not predicted ...
New study finds Antarctic Ice Sheet unstable at end of last ice age
2014-05-28
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study has found that the Antarctic Ice Sheet began melting about 5,000 years earlier than previously thought coming out of the last ice age – and that shrinkage of the vast ice sheet accelerated during eight distinct episodes, causing rapid sea level rise.
The international study, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, is particularly important coming on the heels of recent studies that suggest destabilization of part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun.
Results of this latest study are being published this week in the journal ...
Major discovery on the mechanism of drug resistance in leukemia and other cancers
2014-05-28
A mechanism that enables the development of resistance to Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) anticancer drugs, thereby leading to relapse, has been identified by Kathy Borden of the University of Montreal's Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) and her collaborators. Kathy Borden is a Principal Investigator at IRIC and a professor at the university's Department of Pathology and Cell Biology. The development of drug resistance is one of the main problems in clinical oncology and the cause of relapse in many patients.
The new discovery, recently published in ...
NASA's TRMM and Aqua satellites peer into Tropical Storm Amanda
2014-05-28
Hurricane Amanda has weakened to a tropical storm, but not before NASA's TRMM satellite took a look under its clouds at the rate of heavy rainfall it was generating. After weakening to a tropical storm, NASA's Aqua satellite identified that those strong thunderstorms were limited to the area around the center of its circulation.
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM passed over Amanda on Saturday May 24, 2014 at 2150 UTC (5:50 p.m. EDT). TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency known as JAXA.
At NASA's ...
Wild coho may seek genetic diversity in mate choice
2014-05-28
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new study by researchers at Oregon State University suggests that wild coho salmon that choose mates with disease-resistant genes different from their own are more likely to produce greater numbers of adult offspring returning to the river some three years later.
The researchers also found that hatchery-reared coho – for some unknown reason – do not appear to have the same ability to select mates that are genetically diverse, which may, in part, explain their comparative lower reproductive success.
Results of the study have been published in this ...
Increased social network can have big payoff for nonprofits, study shows
2014-05-28
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Charitable fundraising once depended primarily upon a charity's size, efficiency and longstanding reputation. That was before Razoo, Chipin, Facebook and Twitter came to town.
In the first academic study to look at what determines charitable giving on social-media sites, researchers found that those media have created a more level playing field in the nonprofit world, one in which successful use of technology can make up for limited organizational size.
Technology and social media, it turns out, can not only raise the online profile of even small organizations, ...
How long should HCV treatment last? Study suggests answers are complex
2014-05-28
BUFFALO, N.Y. – As new treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) are approved, biomedical scientists are exploring their mechanisms and what they reveal about the virus. An online publication this month in Hepatology is the first to report real-time tracking of viral decay in the liver and blood in 15 patients with HCV.
Led by Andrew H. Talal, MD, University at Buffalo professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and corresponding author, the study is the first to trace in real-time how the drug telaprevir inhibits viral replication ...
Study affirms value of epigenetic test for markers of prostate cancer
2014-05-28
A multicenter team of researchers report that a commercial test designed to rule out the presence of genetic biomarkers of prostate cancer may be accurate enough to exclude the need for repeat prostate biopsies in many — if not most — men.
"Often, one biopsy is not enough to definitively rule out prostate cancer," says study researcher Jonathan Epstein, M.D., director of the Division of Surgical Pathology and a professor of pathology, urology and oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "Our research finds that by looking for the presence or absence ...
Women's contraceptive use influenced by contraception education and moral attitudes
2014-05-28
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and unplanned pregnancies are associated with poorer health and lower rates of educational and economic achievement for women and their children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, research shows that the desire to avoid pregnancy does not necessarily increase women's use of contraceptives, although this discrepancy is not well understood. Now, MU researchers have found that levels of prior sex education and moral attitudes toward contraception influence ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Study links wind-blown dust from receding Salton Sea to reduced lung function in area children
Multidisciplinary study finds estrogen could aid in therapies for progressive multiple sclerosis
Final day of scientific sessions reveals critical insights for clinical practice at AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting and OTO EXPO
Social adversity and triple-negative breast cancer incidence among black women
Rapid vs standard induction to injectable extended-release buprenorphine
Galvanizing blood vessel cells to expand for organ transplantation
Common hospice medications linked to higher risk of death in people with dementia
SNU researchers develop innovative heating and cooling technology using ‘a single material’ to stay cool in summer and warm in winter without electricity
SNU researchers outline a roadmap for next-generation 2D semiconductor 'gate stack' technology
The fundamental traditional Chinese medicine constitution theory serves as a crucial basis for the development and application of food and medicine homology products
Outfoxed: New research reveals Australia’s rapid red fox invasion
SwRI’s Dr. Chris Thomas named AIAA Associate Fellow
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) funding for research on academic advising experiences of Division I Black/African American student-athletes at minority serving institutions
Johri developing artificial intelligence literacy among undergraduate engineering and technology students
Boston Children’s receives a $35 million donation to accelerate development of therapeutic options for children with brain disorders through the Rosamund Stone Zander and Hansjoerg Wyss Translational
Quantum crystals offer a blueprint for the future of computing and chemistry
Looking beyond speech recognition to evaluate cochlear implants
Tracking infectious disease spread via commuting pattern data
Underweight children cost the NHS as much per child as children with obesity, Oxford study finds.
Wetland plant-fungus combo cleans up ‘forever chemicals’ in a pilot study
Traditional Chinese medicine combined with peginterferon α-2b in chronic hepatitis B
APS and SPR honor Dr. Wendy K. Chung with the 2026 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award
The Gabriella Miller Kids First Data Resource Center (Kids First DRC) has launched the Variant Workbench
Yeast survives Martian conditions
Calcium could be key to solving stability issues in sodium-ion batteries
Can smoother surfaces prevent hydrogen embrittlement?
Heart rate changes predict depression treatment success with magnetic brain stimulation
Genetics pioneer transforms global depression research through multi-omics discoveries
MDMA psychiatric applications synthesized: Comprehensive review examines PTSD treatment and emerging therapeutic indications
Psychedelics offer new therapeutic framework for stress-related psychiatric disorders
[Press-News.org] Filling in the gaps on the protein mapTUM scientists decode the human proteome