Introduction and Scope of Proteomics

The word "proteome" represents the complete protein pool of an organism encoded by the genome. In broader term, Proteomics, is defined as the total protein content of a cell or that of an organism. Proteomics helps in understanding of alteration in protein expression during different stages of life cycle or under stress condition of an organism. Likewise, Proteomics helps in understanding the structure and function of different proteins as well as protein-protein interactions. A minor defect in either protein structure, its function or alternation in expression pattern can be easily detected using proteomics studies. This is important with regards to drug development and understanding various biological processes, as proteins are the most favorable targets for various drugs. Proteomics on the whole can be divided into three kinds as described below (Fig. 1):

Figure 1: Types of Proteomics: Functional, structural and differential proteomics.