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Modern Techniques for Protein Assessment

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Success in Academic Surgery: Basic Science

Part of the book series: Success in Academic Surgery ((SIAS))

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Abstract

Despite the advances in modern medicine, our ability to adequately diagnose and treat a number of disease processes is still lacking. Key to our knowledge is the understanding of genetic regulation, intracellular activity, and cell-to-cell interactions. It is estimated that there are 20,000–30,000 genes that comprise the human genome; these genes code for greater than one million different proteins, any of which may be biomarkers for disease, targets for drug therapies, or insights into formulating better or more tolerable treatment strategies. With the expanding interest in basic and translational science in the field of surgery, it is important that the academic surgeon revisit the fundamentals of protein analysis to successfully formulate an experimental design. There are an endless number of ways to purify, identify, and classify the function of proteins. The major steps in protein analysis involve (1) determining the source, (2) extracting the protein, (3) purifying the protein, (4) identifying and/or quantifying the protein, and (5) establishing its function by assessing how it interacts with other proteins. This chapter reviews the current methods involved with each of these steps and acts as a guide to answering the academic surgeon’s queries.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Vanessa Nomellini MD, PhD

  2. Department of Surgery, University of Wisconsin, 600 Highland Avenue, Clinical Science Center, K4/736, Madison, WI, 53792, USA

    Gregory D. Kennedy MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Vanessa Nomellini MD, PhD
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  2. Gregory D. Kennedy MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory D. Kennedy MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Surgery, Vice Chair of Research, Edward G. Elcock Professor of Surgical Research, Department of Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA, and Co-Chief, Peripheral Vascular Surgery, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Melina R. Kibbe

  2. Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, and Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA

    Scott A. LeMaire

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag London

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Nomellini, V., Kennedy, G.D. (2014). Modern Techniques for Protein Assessment. In: Kibbe, M., LeMaire, S. (eds) Success in Academic Surgery: Basic Science. Success in Academic Surgery. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4736-7_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4736-7_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-4735-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-4736-7

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