Human cellular protein patterns and their link to genome DNA mapping and sequencing data: towards an integrated...

Analysis of cellular protein patterns by computer-aided two-dimensional gel electrophoresis together with recent advances in protein sequence analysis and expression systems have made possible the establishment of comprehensive two-dimensional gel protein databases that may link protein and DNA mapping and sequence information and that offer an integrated approach to the study of gene expression. With the integrated approach offered by two-dimensional gel protein databases it is now possible to reveal phenotype-specific protein(s), to microsequence them, to search for homology with previous identified proteins, to clone the cDNAs, to assign partial protein sequences to genes for which the full DNA sequence and the chromosome location are known, and to study the regulatory properties and function of groups of proteins that are coordinately expressed in a given biological process. Comprehensive two-dimensional gel protein databases will provide an integrated picture of the expression levels and properties of the thousands of protein components of organelles, pathways, and cytoskeletal systems, both under physiological and abnormal conditions, and are expected to lead to the identification of new regulatory networks. So far, about 20% (600 out of 2,980) of the total number of proteins recorded in the human keratinocyte protein database have been identified and we are actively gathering qualitative and quantitative biological data on all resolved proteins. Given the current improvements on microsequencing as well as the availability of specific antibodies, it seems feasible to expect that most known keratinocyte proteins will be identified in the very near future. This feast will reveal a wealth of new proteins that will become amenable to experimentation both at the biochemical and molecular biology level.