Current advances in the application of proteomics in apoptosis research

Abstract

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a complex, genetically-determined process involved in the development and maintenance of homeostasis in multicellular organisms. Dysregulation of apoptosis has been implicated in a number of diseases, including cancer and autoimmune disease. Thus, the investigation of apoptotic regulation has evoked considerable interest. Many apoptotic proteins have been shown to be post-translationally modulated, such as by protein cleavage, translocation, protein-protein interaction, and various post-translational modifications, which fall precisely within the range of proteomic analysis. Recently, contemporary proteomic technologies have achieved significant advances and have accelerated research in functional and chemical proteomics, which have been applied to the field of apoptosis research and have the potential to be a driving force for the field. This review highlights some of the major achievements in the application of proteomics in apoptosis research and discusses new directions and challenges for the near future.

Multidimensional Proteomics for the Identification of Endothelial Post Mortem Signals of Importance in Vascular Remodeling

“…Cell biology approaches supported this contention and showed that medium conditioned by apoptotic EC regulates the survival and differentiation of major cellular constituents of the vessel wall (Cailhier et al, 2006;Laplante et al, 2005;Raymond et al, 2004;Soulez et al, 2010). Execution of the apoptotic program relies mainly on post-translational modifications, such as protein-protein interactions, protein translocation and proteolysis that will set in motion the molecular pathways regulating the various phases of apoptosis (Thiede and Rudel, 2004;Wang and Chen, 2011;Mahrus et al, 2008). The caspase family of cysteine proteases is central to the regulation of the various phases of apoptosis.…”