Lyris Godoy

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Instituto Carlos Chagas, PR

Proteins are the main effectors in most biological processes and cells respond to a variety of signals by modulating protein expression and by regulating their functions via posttranslational modifications (PTMs). PTMs can influence protein activity, stability, spatial localization, and interaction with other macromolecules, playing a critical role in cell signalling. In addition, the presence of histone PTMs alter the composition and conformation of the nucleosome and govern several aspects of DNA metabolism such as replication, repair, transcription and chromatin condensation, ultimately impacting gene expression control. Recent advances in quantitative proteomics have paved the way for unbiased and global quantitative analysis of proteomes and key regulatory PTMs. Here, we review the use of cutting-edge mass spectrometry-based proteomics technologies to quantify changes in expression of thousands of proteins and PTMs in single experiments, including methods specific to overcome the challenges involved in histone characterization and chromatin biology.