It is proteins that do much of the work in a cell

More than a decade ago scientists found the sequencing of the human genome , and it was undoubtedly considered one of the greatest discoveries in biology. However, it was only the beginning of our in-depth understanding of how cells work. Genes are just blueprints and it is the the proteins, genes' products, that do much of the work in a cell.

A multinational team of scientists have sifted through cells of vastly different organisms, from amoebae to worms to mice to humans, to reveal how proteins fit together to build different cells and bodies.

The wonderful finding is a result of a collaboration between seven research groups from three countries, led by Professor Andrew Emili from the University of Toronto's Donnelly Centre and Professor Edward Marcotte from the University of Texas at Austin. The study uncovered tens of thousands of new protein interactions, accounting for about a quarter of all estimated protein contacts in a cell.

If one of these interactions is lost it can lead to disease, and the map can help scientists spot individual proteins that could be at the root of complex human disorders. Through open access databases, the data will be available to researchers across the world.

Proteins work in teams by sticking to each other to carry out their jobs. Many proteins come together to form so called molecular machines that play key roles, such a building new proteins or recycling those no longer needed by literally grinding them into reusable parts. But when it comes to the vast majority of proteins, for example, there are tens of thousands of them in human cells, we still don't know what they do.

Then Emili and Marcotte's map helps. Using a state-of-the-art method developed by the groups, the researchers were able to fish thousands of protein machineries out of cells and count individual proteins they are made of. They then built a network that, similar to social networks, offers clues into protein function based on which other proteins they hang out with. For example, a new and unstudied protein, whose role we don't yet know, is likely to be involved in fixing damage in a cell if it sticks to cell's known "handymen" proteins
The study gathered information on protein machineries from nine species that represent the tree of life: baker's yeast, sea anemones, amoeba, flies, sea urchins, worms, frogs, mice and humans. The map expands the number of known proteins association over ten fold, and it will trace how they evolved as time goes on.

The researchers discovered that tens of thousands of protein associations remained unchanged since the first ancestral cell appeared, one billion years ago (!), preceding all of animal life on Earth.

The researchers believe that, with tens of thousands of other new protein interactions, the map promises to open many more lines of research into links between proteins and disease, which they are keen to explore in depth over the coming years.

The study comes out in Nature on September 7. Protein assemblies in humans were often identical to those in other species, thus the study will provide the ability to study the genetic basis for a wide variety of diseases and how they present in different species. Hope more secrets can be found.

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