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Studying Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease and Aging
September 11, 2003Studying Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease and Aging
Human Brain Proteome Project: Defining of Standards and Tasks
Proteins serve as Biomarkers of Neurodegenerative Diseases
One of the main challenges of this century is the understanding of our brain: Why are we getting senile? Which proteins are altered or modified in brain and spinal cord in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease? The HUPO Human Brain Proteome Project, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Helmut E. Meyer, Medical Proteom-Center of the Ruhr-University Bochum, and Prof. Dr. Dr. Joachim Klose, Charité, Campus Virchow-Klinikum of the Humbold-University Berlin, will address these questions. More than 45 scientists from Europe and the US got together for the 1st HUPO HBPP Workshop in Düsseldorf from 5th to 6th of September, 2003. In the beginning of October, this project will be presented at the 2nd World Congress of the Human Proteome Organisation (HUPO) in Montreal.
Samples from one source for standardisation
The analysis of the human brain proteome will start immediately after this workshop with the acquisition and distribution of adequate samples and the subsequent identification of brain specific proteins. The focus will be on Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease and Aging including disease related brain areas and body fluids (cerebrospinal fluid, plasma). In a pilot phase, participants will study brain tissue from mice of three different developmental stages in a quantitative proteome analysis leading to an assessment of the quality of different techniques as well as to a feeding of proteome databases with reliable data. In addition, a comparison between biopsy and autopsy tissue of human brains will be done to evaluate protein stability in post mortem tissue. According to international standardisation initiatives, e.g. the Brain-Net Europe and the HUPO standardisation initiative PSI, recommendations concerning sample preparation, methods and data format were elaborated. Integration of companies was addressed and discussed extensively. Furthermore, five committees were formed, namely Executive Committee, Specimen Collection and Handling Committee, Technology Platforms and Standardization Committee, Database and Bioinformatics and Training and Education Committee.
Genetic information alone is not sufficient
"Deciphering the human genome alone is not sufficient to understand complex cell processes as aging or neurodegenerative diseases, e.g. Parkinson's Disease or Alzheimer's Disease", explains Prof. Dr. Helmut E. Meyer. The protein complement, the proteome, remains unknown since one can not deduce which mRNA is translated into protein. Additionally, alternative splicing and posttranslational modifications increase the number of putative protein species. The most promising approach to develop new diagnosis and therapies strategies therefore is the analysis of the whole proteome of a cell or of a tissue and the comparison between healthy and diseased brains. With the help of this inventory scientists hope to identify protein markers of early disease stages: Certain proteins, e.g. in Alzheimer patients could be changed in amount or modified and might therefore serve as a warning signal even before symptoms can be detected.
Ruhr-Universität-Bochum
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