Proteomics: Understanding proteins

Various human diseases manifest themselves in the altered concentrations or structures of proteins, so that finding protein markers of a disease can, for example, result in devising better means of diagnosis or follow-up therapy.”

Proteins are hardly a new scientific discovery, said Novotny. Indeed, in 1838, a Swedish natural scientist, Jöns Jacob Berzelius, suggested the term, taking it from “proteios,” a Greek word meaning “primary.” And, throughout the 20th century, scientists worked to isolate and study proteins.

But while researchers estimate that there are nearly 30,000 human genes with units of DNA fashioned from four basic building blocks, there may be five times as many proteins constructed of 20 amino acids. Variation of amino acids leads to a huge diversity in protein structure and function.

Nearly all chemical reactions in biological systems are launched by highly specific proteins. Some proteins generate and transmit nerve impulses, for example, and others control growth and differentiation. There are proteins for immune system protection and still more, like those of collagen, that provide support in skin and connective tissues.

Novotny, along with David Clemmer and Jim Reilly, both professors of chemistry, recently founded the new Proteomics Research and Development Facility at IU Bloomington. The trio have long been known internationally for developing instrumentation and chemical methodologies for researching biological molecules, including proteins. They have been recognized as leaders in separation science and mass spectrometry, the key methodologies in proteomics. Now, they are at work on the next generation of proteomic technology.

Novotny explained a few of the challenges of proteomics in a recent IU Home Pages interview.