Comprehensive mass-spectrometry-based proteome quantification of haploid versus diploid yeast

Nature, 28 Sept 2008: The proteome of a cell is the totality of all expressed proteins in a given condition. Unlike the static genome, the proteome is highly dynamic and can be used to decipher the inner working of cellular processes. Despite decades of effort, no complete proteome has yet been measured. Now, using a combination of mass spectrometry with other high technology tools, a team around Prof. Jesper V. Olsen and Prof. Matthias Mann of the Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry and Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research have mapped and quantified the first complete proteome. The researchers compared two different cell types of yeast - the haploid state, which has only one copy of each chromosome and the diploid state, which has two, like most organisms including humans. They found that the mating pathway is specific to haploid yeast in accordance with its ability to mate. The new proteomic technologies developed in this landmark publication are expected to be of broad utility for studies of healthy and diseased human cells as well. The paper has been published in the journal Nature here (subscription required).