THE HUMAN KERATINOCYTE 2-DIMENSIONAL PROTEIN DATABASE (UPDATE-1994) - TOWARDS AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF CELL-PROLIFERATION, DIFFERENTIATION AND SKIN-DISEASES

The master two-dimensional (2-D) gel database of human keratinocytes currently lists 3087 cellular proteins (2168 isoelectric focusing, IEF; and 919 nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis, NEPHGE), many of which correspond to posttranslational modifications. 890 polypeptides have been identified (protein name, organelle components, etc.) using one or a combination of procedures that include (i) comigration with known human proteins, (ii) 2-D gel immunoblotting using specific antibodies (iii) microsequencing of Coomassie Brilliant Blue stained proteins, (iv) mass spectrometry and (v) vaccinia virus expression of full length cDNAs. These are listed both in alphabetical order and with increasing SSP number, together with their M(r), pi, cellular localization and credit to the investigator(s) that aided in the identification. Furthermore, we list 239 microsequenced proteins recorded in the database. We also report a database of proteins recovered from the medium of noncultured, unfractionated keratinocytes. This database lists 398 polypeptides (309 IEF; 89 NEPHGE) of which 76 have been identified. The aim of the comprehensive databases is to gather, through a systematic study of keratinocytes, qualitative and quantitative information on proteins and their genes that may allow us to identify abnormal patterns of gene expression and, ultimately, to pinpoint signaling pathways and components affected in various skin diseases, cancer included.