Proteomics Laboratory
Proteomics, the study of proteins, is one area of research at CADET. Researchers are undertaking large scale studies into proteins in CADET's state-of-the-art proteomics laboratory.
Proteomics is the study of sets of proteins that are produced by genes in an individual's organs, tissues or blood, in particular their quantities, functions and structures. Genes produce different groups of proteins in different types of cell that are then subjected to a range of secondary chemical changes to further fine tune their activity. This cell-specific pattern of protein production and modification is called the proteome.
Cell behaviour is largely determined by which proteins it produces and how these proteins are modified with the consequence that disease tissue will have a different proteome to healthy tissue. A significant number of drugs in clinical use target proteins that are either involved in development of disease or in generation of disease symptoms.
The CADET Proteomics Laboratory, lead by Dr Richard Unwin, develops and uses methods specifically designed to compare the proteome of tissue and blood samples from ill and healthy individuals. One of the main methods used in the laboratory is mass spectrometry. This method identifies thousands of proteins within each sample, by breaking the proteins up and measuring the mass of their fragments. The use of chemical tags permits the comparison of their levels in diseased samples alongside healthy ones, to investigate whether the level of any particular proteins are different between the two groups. These differences can then provide information regarding how the disease develops, and may provide new targets for drugs.
CADET aims to:
- Observe how tissues change as they become diseased
- Discover the importance of these changes
- Develop drugs that specifically target these changes
Work is also underway to develop tools based on these proteins that can be used to help with early diagnosis or to help us decide whether a certain treatment will be successful or not.
