Meeting report summary from this one day meeting held at Imperial College London
Dr Robin Wait (Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, London, UK) chaired this highly informative Euroscicon (www.euroscicon.com) event held on Sept 29th 2006. Professor David O’Connor (Centre for Proteomic Research, Southampton, UK) described some new methods that are being developed to capture more of the proteome including the use of NanoMate technology, enhanced desorption/ ionisation on silicon (DIOS) MS, novel peptide/ protein capture surfaces and the Protein Expression System developed in collaboration with Waters. Dr Paru Oatey (Syngene, UK) described advances in the capture and analysis of 2D gel images from both fluorescent and visible stained gels by introducing the Dyversity imaging system and the Dymension software package. Dr Dan Gare (LI-COR Biosciences Ltd, UK) continued the theme of imaging by describing the LI-COR Odyssey imaging system for protein quantification and western blotting applications. Dr Robert Edwards (Experimental Medicine and Toxicology, Imperial College London, UK) discussed the use of surface-enhanced laser desorption/ ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) and fractionation in combination with LC-MS/MS for the analysis of oestrogen-mediated cell biology. Dr Balwir Matharoo-Ball (Proteomics and MALDI Mass Spectrometry, Nottingham Trent University, UK) described the use of a top-down bottom-up approach for the discovery of biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of melanoma. Dr Christoph Eckerskorn (BD Diagnostics, Germany) introduced the BD Free Flow Electrophoresis (FFE) System and discussed some recent applications including subcellular fractionation of complex proteomes. Mr Jim Thorn (Beckman, UK) introduced the ProteomeLab PF2D system and presented data demonstrating the utility of this system for biomarker discovery. The talk by Mr Kevin Jones (GenoLogics, UK) discussed the advantages of using the ProteusLimsTM comprehensive laboratory instrument and data management system for proteomics research. Dr Maria Krestyaninova (European Bioinformatic Institute, Cambridge, UK) continued the theme of bioinformatics and data handling by describing data management in the Molecular Phenotyping to Accelerate Genomic Epidemiology (MolPAGE) programme. Dr Laurence Lamarcq (Clontech-TakaraBioEurope, France) focussed on the use of novel antibody microarray technology and introduced the ClontechTM Antibody (Ab) Microarray 500 for the analysis of over 500 proteins in a single experiment. Professor Tony Cass (Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK) discussed the role of nanotechnology in proteomics focussing on the use of nano-particles as labels. In particular, the use of precious metal nano-particles was described, an example of which includes aptamer-conjugated gold metallic nano-particles. Dr Andy Pitt (University of Glasgow, UK) focussed on the rapid progress being made in proteomics technology and described recent advances in separation methods (e.g. capillary electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry), imaging (e.g. MALDI-TOF MS imaging), microarrays (e.g. protein-interaction and aptamer microarrays) and bioMEMS systems. The final talk of the day was given by Dr Laurence Lamarcq (Clontech-TakaraBioEurope, France), which described the seamless In-FusionTM PCR cloning system for optimised protein expression for high throughput applications. In conclusion, this interesting meeting highlighted some of the latest technological advances enabling a larger portion of the expressed proteome to be captured. Many thanks go to Dr Shara Cohen and colleagues for organising this event.
A further version of this report can be found at www.eurosciconpodcasts.com
Author: Laura Smith. Cancer Biology Proteomics Group, Postgraduate Medical Institute in association with the Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, UK.
Submitted by: Dr Claire Morgan, Euroscicon, pr@euroscicon.com
To learn more about Euroscicon and their forthcoming events please visit www.euroscicon.com or email pr@euroscicon.com
