A proteomics node at Ås campus

As part of the NorProteomics FUGE network, Ås campus will develop expertise in the areas listed below and make this expertise available to on-campus and off-campus projects. Our key areas are: 1. Proteomics in difficult matrices, primarily related to food chemistry (meat, cereals; i.e. analysis of "raw" materials). 2. Proteomics as tool in studies in molecular microbiology of Gram-positive bacteria (including e.g. LC-MS/MS based analysis of surface proteomes). 3. Employing the unique opportunities offered by the strong research environment for chemometrics at Ås campus. In connection to the this, we will have a particular focus on developing high-throughput analytical tools which for example could enable "on-line" monitoring of the quality of raw material s. In thsi connection, there are collaborations with the CIGENE group of researchers. 4. Proteomics-driven enzyme discovery, with a particular focus on enzymes for biomass conversion. With respect to the technologies employed, we will use and make availab le our in-house equipment and techniques for MALDI-MS/MS and electrospray LC-MS/MS. In particular, we will intensify our efforts to establish multidimensional LC-MS (and MS/MS) -based protein identification/quantifcation protocols as an alternative/compl ement to gel-based techniques. Furthermore, we will put emphasis on high-throughput applications together with the on-campus CIGENE FUGE platform. In addition to these in-house technologies, we will employ technologies offered by the other nodes in the No rProteomics platform, for example SILAC which we are using to study how human cells respond to food components and food bacteria.