DMMC Course: TECHNIQUES & STRATEGIES IN MOLECULAR MEDICINE
1015-1100 Wednesday 12 December 2007, Panoz institute, LTEE2, TCD
Determining
protein:protein interactions in biology
Dr
Niamh Moran (RCSI Research Institute)
Whereas
the Human genome Project has successfully identified all human genes and their
corresponding proteins, the next challenge in biology is to understand how
these proteins interact with each other in a dynamic cell system. My lab is
interested in the molecular mechanisms of integrin activation in the human
platelet in order to better understand thrombotic disease. Using the platelet
as a model system therefore, we explored various mechanisms of elucidating
relevant protein interactions with integrin cytoplasmic tails. Current conventional
methods are discussed in this presentation including co-immunoprecipitation,
FRET, yeast-two hybrid system, TAP-Tags and protein chip technology. In addition,
the emerging protein interaction websites provide a useful tool in this process.
Verification of newly identified interactions is the next bottle-neck in the
process and needs to be tailor made for each specific protein. This involves
a combination of literature-searching, bio-informatics and basic cell-biology
techniques.
The conclusion of this presentation will highlight the importance of choosing
an appropriate system for exploring protein:protein interactions; identifying
relevant association and eliminating non-specific interactions, and finally
emphasising the importance of relevant verification in this process. We have
termed this process Protein ENONOMICS from the Greek term for interaction
and claim that it is the next emerging ‘omic’ after proteomics!