This research project aims to assess the potential of multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT) as quantitative procedure to ascertain protein perturbations arising from genetic modifications.
<p>The first stage of the project will optimise 'front-end' procedures in order to maximise proteome coverage by MudPIT.
<P>Both non chemical (e.g.Stable Isotope labelled Standards) and chemical (e.g. Isobaric Tag for Relative and Absolute Quantification (iTRAQ) approaches to quantification will be evaluated using complementary MS Techniques.
<p>The unique collection of GM material and plants available at RHUL will be used to fully evaluate and validate the procedure.
Despite advances in gel-based approaches to proteomic analysis, the technology remains unsuitable for the rigorous safety assessment of GM plants.
<p>Limiting factors include the restrictive type of proteins that can be analysed (i.e. hydrophobic proteins are poorly detected), inadequate dynamic range and inaccurate quantitation. MudPIT is an attractive alternative.
<p>The procedure has been shown to detect low abundance and hydrophobic proteins and quantitative methodologies for MudPIT have been developed.
<p>Find more about this project and other FSA food safety-related projects at the <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/science/research/" target="_blank">Food Standards Agency Research webpage</a>.