Proteomics in Scleroderma

The cells which form the tissues of the body contain approximately 30,000 different genes which when expressed as proteins make up who we are and what we look like. Recent advances in science have meant that there are now technologies available which allow us to undertake large scale screening programmes and analyse the complex composition of cells and tissue in the body.

The term Proteome was first defined in 1995 and is used to describe the study of gene expression at the level of protein within a single organism or cell or tissue. The PROTEOME being the PROTEin complement of a genOME i.e. all the proteins that are produced by a given organism, and term proteomics as the examination of the "complete" proteome of that organism. This has been expanded to include the analysis of levels and patterns of protein expression in particular cells and tissues of higher organisms. The ability to look at the amount and distribution of proteins within cells and tissues allows us to compare for instance between the proteins expressed by scleroderma cells compared to normal cells. In human diseases like scleroderma, being able to identify changes in the expression of genes, proteins and metabolites compared with the normal situation is of great value. Differences in the amounts or levels of gene products or metabolites provide a unique insight into the disease’s process. They can identify abnormal pathways and can lead to the development of new, novel and effective targeted therapies. With the generous support from The Scleroderma Society we have been able to establish a Proteomic Facility at the Royal Free Hospital which is now fully operational. We have been using proteomics to study significant alterations in protein expression that may underlie the disease processes and determine the progression of the disease and the eventual outcome. In the future, proteomics will play an ever increasingly important role in the characterisation of global alterations in protein expression in disease. Using this type of analysis, proteomics will begin, and in the case of Scleroderma has begun, to provide new insights into cellular mechanisms involved in dysfunction in disease. This will result in the development of new diagnostic/prognostic markers and novel therapeutic approaches to treatment.

David Abraham (Reader Rheumatology Dept Royal Free and University College Medical School)