Bio Saga Blog - A Chronicle of Life Sciences & Informatics

First the genome; now the proteome. China has already established a leading position in DNA sequencing through the work of the  BGI  in Shenzhen (formerly the Beijing Genomics Institute), which has been generating eye-catching genomics discoveries for the past few years (see  Nature  464,  22–24; 2010 ). This week, Chinese researchers are set to announce initiatives that could put them at the forefront of international efforts to catalogue and characterize all proteins in the human body. Inspired by the Human Genome Project, protein researchers worldwide have been seeking funds to build a full catalogue of human proteins — a proteome — which, they say, will explain how the information encoded in our genomes can give rise to normal and diseased states. his January, the  Human Proteome Organization  (HUPO) in Montreal, Canada, took the first steps towards an international effort. It set up the Human Proteome Project (HPP) working group to coordinat...

Pred_PPI is a web-based system that serves for predicting PPIs from different organisms. This server is freely available to any researcher wishing to use it for non-commercial purposes. Based on auto covariance (AC) and support vector machine (SVM), this tool is capable of predicting PPIs for any target protein pair only using their primary sequences, and assigning an interaction probability to each SVM prediction as well. So the user can use this tool to predict novel PPIs with high confidence. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) are essential for almost all cellular processes, such as metabolic cycles, DNA transcription and replication, different signaling cascades and so on. However the biochemical methods are all time-consuming and expensive, so current PPI pairs elucidated by experiments are absolutely insufficient compared to the complete PPI networks . Consequently it is increasing important to develop computational tools for effectively identifying PPIs. Check out this one t...

Blogging previously about biomarker in, Biomarkers to Open the Door to Personalized Medicine and Represents a Seismic Shift for the Pharma Industry . Here are two interesting study on biomarkers. First one, Dr. Johan Arnlov, a researcher at Uppsala University, and lead author of a report in the May 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine . A bundle of four offbeat biomarkers accurately predicted the risk of death from cardiovascular disease in a study of older Swedish men, researchers report. It is just a preliminary finding in a long process that might one day lead to widespread medical use of these biomarkers in addition to well-established risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. And second one, Potential cardiovascular disease markers – CliPro™ based analysis: Introduction Quantitative analysis of proteins in body fluids for disease diagnosis has attained significant clinical relevance as it could reflect the pathophysiological state of the organism. Despi...

Previously blogging on the how protein interactions play significant roles in various aspects of the structural and functional organization of the cell, and their elucidation sheds light on the molecular mechanisms of biological processes. Researchers Find that a Small Molecule Can Activate an Important Cancer Suppressor Gene . Here is another study where researchers have provided the first global analysis of human proteins interacting with viral proteins and proteins in other pathogens. The scientists examined experimental data for 190 different pathogens that comprise 10,477 interactions between human and pathogen proteins. This approach provides a highly detailed network map of human proteins interfacing with proteins in different pathogens. The network of interactions reveals possible key intervention points for the future development of therapeutics against infectious diseases. "Infectious diseases result in millions of deaths each year. Although much effort has been directed...

Ambitious plans to catalogue and characterize all proteins in the human body — a Human Proteome Project — are being drawn up by a small group of researchers. But with a price tag of around US$1 billion, some question whether the organizers can raise enough money or momentum for such an undertaking. Project aims to characterize all human proteins. Talking about characterizing human proteins; there are several organizations working around the globe towards this initiative, spanning across both the public and commercial domains. Having missed out on HGMP, this time the industry in India is all geared up towards the mapping of human proteome. Molecular Connections collaborates with Plasma Proteome Institute and with Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Proteomics & Biomarkers Research Group that would significantly aid them in the development of their new knowledgebase CliPro .