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Assignment of protein function in the postgenomic era

Nature Chemical Biology volume 1, pages 130–142 (2005)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 September 2005

Abstract

Genome sequencing projects have provided researchers with an unprecedented boon of molecular information that promises to revolutionize our understanding of life and lead to new treatments of its disorders. However, genome sequences alone offer only limited insights into the biochemical pathways that determine cell and tissue function. These complex metabolic and signaling networks are largely mediated by proteins. The vast number of uncharacterized proteins found in prokaryotic and eukaroyotic systems suggests that our knowledge of cellular biochemistry is far from complete. Here, we highlight a new breed of 'postgenomic' methods that aim to assign functions to proteins through the integrated application of chemical and biological techniques.

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Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3: Genomic enzymology.
Figure 4: Activity-based protein profiling (ABPP).
Figure 5: Chemical genetic analysis of kinases.
Figure 6: Comparison of targeted and untargeted LC-MS methods for comparative metabolite analysis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors apologize to many wonderful colleagues whose work we were unable to cite because of space limitations. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the US National Institutes of Health (CA087660, DA017259, DA015197), the Helen L. Dorris Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Disorder Institute, and the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology. A.S. is a Merck Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation.

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  1. The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology and Departments of Cell Biology and Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, 92037, California, USA

    Alan Saghatelian & Benjamin F Cravatt

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Saghatelian, A., Cravatt, B. Assignment of protein function in the postgenomic era. Nat Chem Biol 1, 130–142 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio0805-130

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