Fast-track to protein function with new database
ascribing functions to proteins discovered as a result of genome
research.
To elucidate cellular mechanisms that lead to diseases such as cancer is a big challenge of biomedicine. Now, a team headed by Professor Annemarie Poustka of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), has tackled this complex task and developed the on-line guide.
"Deciphering the human genome was only the beginning. Researchers are now faced with the task of identifying the existing genes and their RNA copies which serve as blueprints for producing proteins," they said.
In a next step they need to find out where these proteins work and analyze their actions and interactions with other cellular components.
The LIFEdb guide, recently published in an article in the journal Genome Research, involved the compilation of a host of data from genome research and examples of how genes and their proteins work in cellular systems.
This comprehensive collection of data leads to concrete information such as whether a protein is involved in the cell cycle and, thus, may also be associated with cancer, according to the authors of the study, Dr. Stefan Wiemann et al.
The approach involves the combination of results from experimental research, including the localisation of proteins within the cell and expression profiles of genes. By providing this knowledge in a public Internet platform, Wiemann and his colleagues claim to have made a major contribution to the understanding of biological processes in the post genome sequencing era.
"Understanding these complex biological processes will eventually make it possible to distinguish healthy from sick organisms. Therefore, these findings are a prerequesite for developing novel diagnostic and prognostic approaches and new treatments," said the researchers.. ,p>Wiemann and his colleagues are using methods of bioinformatics and genomic databases to compile and evaluate research results and to link these with a variety of data obtained by high-throughput methods.
The project was funded by the Research Ministry (BMBF) within the framework of the National Genome Research Network.
