A proteomics platform to enable next generation multidisciplinary bioscience

分子水平的生命依赖于蛋白质，长链的氨基酸通常折叠成美丽和功能性的三维结构。身体中的每一个细胞都有自己特定的蛋白质组合，由基因组编码，并适应该细胞的特定作用-例如，免疫细胞产生可以快速响应感染的蛋白质，视网膜细胞产生使我们能够检测到光的受体，而神经元产生蛋白质，使我们能够非常快速地传输信号，使我们能够思考和对刺激做出反应。其他蛋白质是所有细胞功能的基础，例如那些复制我们的DNA并检查错误的蛋白质，或确保细胞分裂过程中细胞正确分离为两个子细胞的蛋白质。所有的蛋白质都被进一步的化学修饰，除了基因组编码的序列之外，还有其他被称为酶的蛋白质，改变它们的结构，使它们能够发挥功能。例如，修饰可以是对信号的响应，或者作为一个“标签”，告诉细胞中的其他蛋白质与它结合或降解它，并且序列可以在称为选择性剪接的过程中以各种方式“改组”。这些蛋白质统称为蛋白质组，在人类中可以有超过1000万种化学上不同的类型，其丰度范围从每个细胞1或2个拷贝到特定蛋白质的数百万个拷贝。大多数药物靶点是蛋白质，了解蛋白质组如何发挥功能和调节，以及它与其他生命分子（DNA，RNA，脂质，代谢等）的相互作用。蛋白质组学是生物学的主要目标之一，对这一极其复杂的系统的研究被称为蛋白质组学，从单个细胞到整个生物体的任何样品中识别和定量蛋白质的方法已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法，该领域的最新创新现在允许在单细胞中存在的微小尺度上分析蛋白质组，以及全面识别所有不同形式的蛋白质，它们的复合物，我们的目标是用最新的蛋白质组学技术来补充伦敦帝国理工学院目前过时的蛋白质组学设备，蛋白质组学设备，使研究人员能够进行世界领先的合作科学，以更深入地了解蛋白质组。这些基础研究将加速对社会的影响，从医学和清洁能源到生物精炼，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.