Proteomics

It's the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, as they are the main components of the physiological metabolic pathways of cells.

The term proteomics was first coined in 1997 to make an analogy with genomics, the study of the genome.Proteomics has recently come into the act as a promising force to transform biology and medicine. It is becoming increasingly apparent that changes in mRNA expression correlate poorly with protein expression changes. Proteins change enormously in patterns of expressions across developmental and physiological responses.

Proteins also face changes on the act of environmental perturbations. Proteins are the actual effectors driving cell behavior. The field of proteomics strives to characterize protein structure and function, protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid, protein-lipid, and enzyme-substrate interactions, protein processing and folding, protein activation, cellular and sub-cellular localization, protein turnover and synthesis rates, and even promoter usage.