Protein Enrichment Strategies for Advanced Proteomic Studies

Abstract

The intracellular environment is complex, with thousands of different proteins alongside many other types of molecules. Such complexity makes the study of individual proteins very difficult without some form of enrichment. While current methods for protein enrichment have been used successfully in many different applications, they lack the specificity and robustness needed for advanced proteomic studies. The first chapter of this work describes a new protein catch-and-release system that allows for the enrichment and selective release of target proteins under mild conditions. This system was used to enrich target proteins of therapeutic interest, which were identified by mass spectrometry. Chapter two reports the application of this enrichment strategy to find new protein targets for the treatment of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) and details the validation of these targets using biochemical, genetic, and orthogonal proteomic methods.