Research Progress on Proteomic Techniques and their Applications

Proteins are the chief performers for physiological functions in a cell,and often function as protein complexes or interact with nucleic acids.A proteome represents all the proteins expressed by a cell,a tissue,or an organism at a defined time point under certain circumstances.Therefore,proteomes will undergo dynamic changes with alterations in time and space.The aim of proteomics is to globally study structures,functions and expression modes of proteome as well as interactions among proteins in a proteome.Based on the contents of study,proteomics can be classified as expression proteomics,structural proteomics and functional proteomics,respectively.The study of proteomes will help understand structures of proteins,functions of cells,nature and active rules of life,and will provide scientific basis for diagnosis and treatment of diseases as well as development of novel drugs.The techniques commonly used in proteomic studies include two-dimentional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis,mass spectrometry,yeast two-hybrid system and protein chips.This article will provide a brief overview of proteomics and techniques frequently utilized for proteomic studies.