Applying proteomics to drug discovery

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Abstract
Proteomics is a technology that has come to prominence over the last few years largely as a result of the advances that have been made in the equipment and software associated with the performance and analysis of two dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis. With this technique it is now possible to resolve and identify proteins on 2D gels with a high degree of reproducibility and sensitivity. This facilitates the detection and quantification of thousands of proteins from complex biological samples in a single analysis and, more significantly, the comparison of these data accurately and reproducibly between samples. Thus, qualitative and quantitative assessments of changes are possible between the healthy and diseased state, in the presence and absence of drug, or between responders and non-responders. The added ability of carrying out such analysis at a high throughput opens up the possibilities for using proteomics to great effect throughout the drug discovery process. This review outlines the proteomic process and indicates areas where its potential has begun to be realised.