A proteomics platform to enable next generation multidisciplinary bioscience

分子水平上的生命依赖于蛋白质，这是一种氨基酸的长链，经常折叠成美丽的、有功能的三维结构。人体内的每个细胞都有自己独特的蛋白质组合，由基因组编码，并适应细胞的特定角色--例如，免疫细胞产生能够对感染迅速做出反应的蛋白质，视网膜细胞产生使我们能够探测光线的受体，而神经元产生能够传输极快信号的蛋白质，使我们能够对刺激做出思考和反应。其他蛋白质对所有细胞的功能都是基本的，例如那些复制我们的DNA并检查其错误的蛋白质，或者确保在细胞分裂期间正确地将一个细胞分离成两个子细胞的蛋白质。除了基因组编码的序列外，所有蛋白质都被其他称为酶的蛋白质进一步化学修饰，以一种使其能够发挥功能的方式改变其结构。例如，可以根据信号进行修饰，也可以将其标记为告诉细胞中的其他蛋白质与之结合或降解的标签，序列可以在称为选择性剪接的过程中以不同的方式“洗牌”。这些蛋白质统称为蛋白质组，在人类中可以有1000多万种不同的化学类型，丰度范围从每个细胞1到2个拷贝到特定蛋白质的数百万个拷贝。大多数药物靶标是蛋白质，了解蛋白质组的功能和调节，以及它与其他生命分子(DNA、RNA、脂质、新陈代谢等)的相互作用。对这一复杂系统的研究被称为蛋白质组学，鉴定和定量任何样本--从单个细胞到整个生物体--中的蛋白质的方法已经成为现代科学的基石。实现这一目标的最重要技术是基于质谱学，该领域的最新创新现在允许在单个细胞中进行微小规模的蛋白质组分析，以及全面识别所有不同形式的蛋白质及其复合体，并帮助确定其3D结构。我们的目标是用最新的蛋白质组学设备补充伦敦帝国理工学院目前过时的蛋白质组学设备，使研究人员能够进行世界领先的协作科学，以更深入地了解蛋白质组。这些基础性研究将加速对社会的影响，从医药和清洁能源到生物提炼、农业和粮食安全。

Life at the molecular level relies on proteins, long chains of amino acids which often fold into beautiful and functional 3-dimensional structures. Every cell in the body has its own particular mix of proteins, encoded by the genome, and adapted to the particular role of that cell - for example, immune cells produce proteins which can rapidly respond to infections, retinal cells produce receptors which enable us to detect light, whilst neurons produce proteins which enable transmission of extremely rapid signals to allow us to think and respond to stimuli. Other proteins are fundamental to the function of all cells, for example those which replicate our DNA and check it for errors, or ensure the correct separation of a cell into two daughter cells during cell division. All proteins are further modified chemically, beyond the sequence encoded by the genome, by other proteins called enzymes, changing their structure in a way which enables their function. For example, modifications can be attached in response to a signal, or as a 'label' which tells other proteins in the cell to bind to it or degrade it, and the sequence can be 'shuffled' in various ways in a process termed alternative splicing.These proteins are collectively termed the proteome, and can number over 10 million chemically distinct types in humans, with a range of abundance from 1 or 2 copies per cell up to millions of copies of a specific protein. The large majority of drug targets are proteins, and understanding how the proteome functions and is regulated, and its interactions with other molecules of life (DNA, RNA, lipids, metabolism, etc.) is one of the main goals of biology.The study of this richly complex system is termed proteomics, and methods to identify and quantify the proteins in any sample - from single cells up to entire organisms - has become a cornerstone of modern science. The most important technology to achieve this is based on mass spectrometry, and recent innovations in this field now permit analysis of the proteome at the tiny scales present in single cells, as well as to comprehensively identify all the different forms of proteins, their complexes, and to assist with determining their 3D structures.Our aim is to supplement currently obsolete proteomics equipment at Imperial College London with the latest proteomics equipment, to allow researchers to undertake world-leading collaborative science to understand the proteome in greater depth. These fundamental studies will accelerate impacts on society from medicine and clean energy to biorefining, agriculture and food security.