Protein Pipeline for Analysis of Protein Complexes
Sponsor: DOE-Office of Biological and Environmental Research Genomics: Genomes to Life Program
Contacts: Brian Hooker, Steve Wiley
The Center for Molecular and Cellular Systems (CMCS) was created as part of DOE's Genomics: GTL program. The CMCS, which is anchored at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and PNNL, was designed to establish state-of-the-art capabilities and provide high-quality data to the biological community.
Knowing that no single isolation procedure is capable of isolating the diverse types of complexes present in microbial organisms, robust and complementary techniques for the isolation and identification of protein complexes are being developed and validated. Two complementary isolation approaches have been combined with mass spectrometry and computational tools to form an integrated "pipeline" for the analysis of protein complexes. This pipeline is now in continuous operation and we have conducted over 200 isolation experiments on two organisms, Rhodopseudomonas palustris and Shewanella oneidensis.
We have also established a dynamic research program that supports the goals of the CMCS by developing new capabilities for sample preparation and complex isolation, molecular level identification, and in vivo characterization of the complexes, along with critical bioinformatics and computing capabilities. The goal of these research tasks is to increase sample throughput, improve data quality, and enhance information obtained on the protein complexes.