Isotope-Assisted Proteomic Analysis of Hormone Receptor Mutants

这个项目有两个具体的目标，一个是基因组技术的发展，另一个是鉴定参与介导植物细胞分裂素这一特定激素作用的蛋白质。这项有待开发的技术涉及使用质谱仪和重同位素来测量尽可能多的3万种不同植物蛋白质的浓度和变化。为了将基因组序列数据转化为能够真正理解潜在生物学机制的知识，迫切需要这种通常被称为“蛋白质组学”的新技术。这些测量将在特定的“敲除”突变植物上进行，这些突变植物对植物激素的影响具有抗性。通过测量这些突变如何影响特定蛋白质的存在，就能识别出少数专门参与调节激素作用的蛋白质。除了开发一种急需的、普遍适用的技术之外，这个项目的更广泛影响还包括为研究界组织研讨会，讨论将要开发的方法，并将功能基因组学的概念引入高中生物课堂。

There are two specific aims in this project, one focused on genomic technology development and the other, on identifying proteins involved in mediating the effect of a specific hormone, cytokinin, in plant cells. The technology to be developed involves using mass spectrometers and heavy isotopes to measure the concentration and modifications of as many of the 30,000 different plant proteins as possible. This new technology in the field commonly known as 'proteomics' is badly needed in order to convert genomic sequence data into knowledge that represents a real understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms. These measurements will be performed with specific 'knockout' mutant plants that are resistant to the effects of the plant hormone. By measuring how these mutations affect the presence of particular proteins, the handful of proteins that are specifically involved in mediating the effects of the hormone will be identified. Broader impacts of this project beyond the development of a much needed, generally applicable technology include organizing workshops for the research community in the methods that will be developed and the introduction of concepts in functional genomics into high school biology classrooms.