We will do everything that is planned by the Human Proteome program!

Biologists from the Russian Federation will decode proteins by 2014
The 18th human chromosome

RIA NewsBy the end of 2013, Russian scientists will have completed the study of the main proteins of the 18th human chromosome - the Russian part of the international project "Human Proteome", launched in 2007, Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Alexander Archakov, director of the Orekhovich Research Institute of Biomedical Chemistry, told RIA Novosti.

"We plan to find out all the main proteins that are simply read and not modified – there are 278 of them - by the end of next year. But with modifications – there may be about 15 thousand of them – everything is more complicated," Archakov said on the sidelines of the international congress "Ways of Russia's Development: from Fundamental research to advanced Developments."

The Human Proteome is the next step after the Human Genome project. As part of this initiative, scientists intend to compile a complete "library" of all protein molecules that are encoded by the human genome. According to the plan of its organizers, it will help to create cheap and affordable methods of medical diagnostics that allow finding severe diseases at early stages of development.

"The proteome is the molecular mechanism that is implemented according to the "blueprints" of the genome. Therefore, the scientific community has come to the conclusion that a new project is needed – a complete inventory of all body proteins – from one million to a billion of them," Archakov explained.

He added that Russia is a full participant in this project – within its framework, Russian scientists are investigating proteins that are encoded by the genes of the 18th chromosome.

Ten Russian institutes are participating in the project.

According to Archakov, the project is designed until 2020, and by that time, as the scientist hopes, it will be possible to predict the properties of all modifications of proteins.

"To check (their structure) is another question, although perhaps by this time new technologies may appear that will allow this to be done," the scientist noted.

He explained that the gene can encode dozens of proteins, which can then undergo chemical modification. In general, one gene, as it is now believed, can produce from 50 to 100 different proteins.

"Most drugs are made not for gene structures, for RNA, but for specific proteins. We will be able to predict the development of diseases. For medicine, this can give more than a genome decoding project," the scientist concluded.

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