Proteins At Work
How we can best provide state-of-the-art proteomics technology to the biomedical community.
Proteomics is an essential technology for research in the life sciences; it provides the crucial link between physical information presented by gene sequencing and structural biology, and the dynamic picture generated from cellular signaling and other biological processes. Integration of all these sources of knowledge gives us a broad systems biology approach that has applications in biology, medicine and biotechnology, both in academic research and in industrial development. Thus, the availability of state-of-the-art proteomics technology is crucial for life sciences research worldwide. But what is the optimal way of providing this technology?
The research questions being asked by the life sciences community are becoming increasingly complex and to answer them we need multidisciplinary teams of well-trained scientists with access to cutting-edge enabling technologies. Inevitably, there are bottlenecks. The two bottlenecks in state-of-the-art proteomics are (1) the availability of (rather expensive) hardware and (2) a shortage of the expertise required for the efficient and innovative use of that hardware. The second one is, arguably, the bigger problem. For an infrastructure to be optimal it requires three things: a critical mass of researchers with advanced analytical and biochemical skills; bioinformatics support; and expertise in various areas of molecular biology and medicine.
One way to fulfil the proteomics needs of life science researchers is by providing local proteomics facilities. Often, however, these services are set up with just a single instrument. They lack the support required to be valuable in the long term and they tend to offer standard proteomics technology, lacking the resources to provide customized and cutting-edge services.
A coordinated effort to build a large-scale infrastructure is more efficient and allows the provision of both new technologies and the expert guidance required for state-of-the-art proteomics. Organizing that infrastructure at the national level ensures a tight link with the national life sciences research communities that will benefit most.
We have a working example of this. The Netherlands Proteomics Centre (NPC; www.netherlandsproteomicscentre.nl), founded in 2003, combines research in proteomics technology with localized “research hotels” that provide access to technology alongside an integrated program to enhance and improve the use of bioinformatics in proteomics. In 2011, the European Union began funding PRIME-XS (www.prime-xs.eu), a pan-European program that funds access to multiple national infrastructures, including the NPC. PRIME-XS, provides proteomics expertise to many European scientists who would not otherwise have access to the technology.
The NPC is now firmly established in the national research community, and is also recognized internationally because of its high-quality contributions to the field. In the coming year, access to state-of-the-art proteomics technology will be further boosted by the Proteins At Work project (www.proteinsatwork.nl), which has received 13.5 million Euros in funding. Proteins At Work is a close collaboration between our core facility at Utrecht University, and several biomedical research centers, such as the Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Hubrecht Institute and the academic hospitals of Utrecht and Rotterdam. In addition to providing local proteomics support to the affiliated institutes, Proteins At Work acts as a conduit to any future enabling technologies pioneered at the core in Utrecht. Furthermore, Proteins At Work offers improved proteomics capability to all biomedical and biology-oriented researchers in the Netherlands.
Given the proven importance of proteomics in life science research, we hope that other countries – and the European Union – will place the continuity of access to state-of-the-art proteomics expertise higher on their agendas; to not do so would deprive genuine efforts to tackle today’s societal challenges of vital support.
Albert J. R. Heck is a professor at the Science Faculty of Utrecht University in The Netherlands. Heck is also scientific director of the Netherlands Proteomics Centre and coordinator of the European proteomics infrastructure PRIME-XS and the NWO roadmap funded Proteins At Work. “I’m interested in implementing innovative mass spectrometric methods, with an emphasis on protein interactions and post-translational modifications,” he says.
Reinout Raijmakers is the managing director of the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research also in The Netherlands. There, he is responsible for the coordination of EU funded research and infrastructure projects. “I’m also in charge of the organization of the educational programme for the students in the center, which includes courses, a seminar series and a yearly symposium,” he says. Reinout has also been working on the analysis of post-translational modifications and interactions of proteins – and their relation with diseases. “In particular, I concentrate on analysis by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.”
