蛋白质组学及其在神经科学研究中的应用

Proteomics and its Applications in Neuroscience Research

蛋白质组学是后基因组时代研究中兴起还不到十年的新型学科,但已应用到生命科学与基础医学研究中的各个领域.对蛋白质组进行大规模的分析可使我们更加深入了解生物体的结构与功能.在神经科学研究领域,对于神经突触、受体复合物以及其他的神经元和神经胶质特性的研究因为该学科的渗透,近年来取得了辉煌成就.然而,蛋白质组学相关技术用于神经系统的研究还面临着很多挑战,如脑蛋白样品的准备、脑的复杂性、有限的数据库资源和生物信息学工具等.蛋白质组学技术与其他功能基因组学研究方法,如基因芯片、网络生物学分析技术等相结合,将在基因及其功能、神经生理学与病理学之间架起一道重要的桥梁.

Proteomics is a new emerging subject in the post-genomic era. However,the strategies of this subject have applied to many research fields of life and basic medical sciences. Currently, we can understand the protein structures and functions at proteome-level. With the development of this subject-related strategies in the neuroscience research, great progress were made in the understanding neural receptor complexes and characteristics of nerve ceils and glias. However, many challenges such as brain protein sample preparations, brain complexities, limited database resources and bioinformatics tools are ahead. Proteomics and other functional genomics-related techniques in conjunction with networks and systems biology will bridge between neural genes and their functions, neurophysiology and neuropathology.