Proteomics, Protein Engineering

Proteomics, the systematic identification and quantitation of the proteome, has brought a radical approach to systems biology, and offers much potential for use by the biotechnology sector. The proteome is the entire protein complement in a cell, constantly changing through its biochemical interactions. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic tools offer a platform to study complex biological functions, as they cannot be solely explained by genomics. The incomparable capability of MS to acquire high-content quantitative information of highly complex biological samples has allowed for significant advances to be made in the understanding of cellular and physiological processes. These technical advances have produced a wide range of new MS-based analytical proteomic procedures and experimental strategies that are now in routine use. In this article, an overview of MS-based proteomics is presented, indicating the main applications, and introducing well-established traditional tools and platforms. Later, microfluidic-based emerging tools in protein profiling are presented.