Researchers are developing a new method for studying
The Turku Center for Biosciences’ research group has developed a new method for studying the functionality of the microbiota using metaproteomics. The new method offers wide opportunities for microbiota research at a new, functional level. The characterization of the functionality of the gut microbiota is central to human health and disease research, as well as disease prediction, prevention and treatment. Previous studies have mainly focused on cataloging the composition of the microbiota, but little is known about the functionality of the human gut microbiota.
Proteins are essential for the vital functions of the body. They control most of the cell’s functions and enable complex interactions between the cell and its environment. The study of proteins can thus provide extensive information on the various functions of cells. Protein analyzes can be widely used in medical research, including gut microbiome profiling.
The important role of the gut microbiota in human health and their role in various diseases has been recognized in studies published in recent years. A research group from the University of Turku led by a professor Laura Elo has developed a new method based on mass spectrometry, which enables the extensive study of protein levels in complex microbiota samples.
“Until recently, microbiota research has focused heavily on finding out what microbes are present in a sample, but analyzing the functionality of the microbiota has been challenging. However, recent technological advances have also enabled a deeper dive into the functions. Examining the protein content of microbiota samples is one such emerging field of research that allows us to gain a broader understanding about the functionality and dynamics of the microbiota,” says Elo.
The newly developed method utilizes the latest mass spectrometry technology and advanced calculation methods, which enable significantly better coverage and reproducibility of results compared to previous methods.
“The new method that we have developed for the analysis of complex protein data produces more reliable results than previous methods,” says Ph.D. Sami Pietilä.
“Current research methods typically analyze only the most abundant proteins, which causes variation in the results from one analysis to another. The new method analyzes the samples systematically and produces reliable results without such variation,” Pietilä continues.
The computational method has been published as open source software and is freely available to the research community.
“It has been extremely important for us to make this newly developed method available to all researchers as an easy-to-use application. We are also ready to participate in the further development and maintenance of this tool,” adds the research doctor Tom Suomi.
Pietilä S, Suomi T, Elo LL. Introducing untargeted data-independent acquisition of complex microbial samples for metaproteomics. ISME communication2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43705-022-00137-0
Journal
ISME communication
Subject of research
Cells
Title of the article
Introducing untargeted data-independent acquisition of complex microbial samples for metaproteomics
Article publication date
June 29, 2022
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