de Botton Institute for Protein Profiling

The rapid advancement and maturation of analytical instrumentation, mainly in the field of mass spectrometry, opened the way to the large-scale profiling of proteomes. Protein profiling studies, also referred to as proteomics, entail the comprehensive identification and quantification of proteins in tissues, cell lines, or bio-fluids (e.g., blood and urine). Protein profiling is ultimately geared toward exhaustively characterizing all proteins in the human body, in health and disease.

An attractive feature of protein profiling is that it enables researchers to conduct unbiased, hypothesis-generating studies of diseases. Conventional investigations typically require a preliminary assumption, such as “this protein/gene is related to this process/disease,” which is then tested using various research tools. With protein profiling, scientists can run “blind” tests of disease/mutated vs. healthy cells and then, based on the findings, reach new understandings and hypotheses, which are further explored.

Our technologies

The proteomics unit utilizes cutting edge techniques for quantitative analysis of proteins and peptides in complex samples. We use a ‘bottom-up’ approach where proteins are extracted from the biological samples, subjected to enzymatic digestion followed by liquid chromatography – mass spectrometric analysis. Post-acquisition, the protein identity and quantity is reconstructed using the latest bioinformatics.