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Project

Development of polyoxometaltes as artificial enzymes for the selective hydrolysis of membrane- and glyco -proteins for proteomics applications

The total number of different proteins present in Earth organisms is estimated to be up to 10 million. While their identification in terms of primary sequences is expanding at an increasing rate, elucidation of their function and three-dimensional structure is drastically lacking behind. Most of the currently used approaches in proteomics for unraveling the structure and function of proteins require protein hydrolysis into more manageable peptide fragments due to the high complexity and the large size of these biomolecules. However, the extreme kinetic inertness of the peptide bond makes this a challenging task. Our recent research has shown that polyoxymetalates (POMs), are able to hydrolyze cytosolic proteins in a regioselective fashion under physiological conditions. In this project we aim to further develop POMs as catalysts for hydrolysis of membrane proteins in surfactant solutions as well as agents for non-destructive desialylation of glycoproteins. We will also develop protocols for use of POMs in shotgun proteomics.

Date:1 Jan 2019 →  31 Dec 2022
Keywords:Science and technolgy
Disciplines:Proteomics