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!