2 - Biomolecules

Abstract

This chapter provides short overview of major features of proteins and peptides which are important for better understanding the crossroads of principles of analytical chemistry and proteomics. These properties, including amino acid composition and sequence, will have profound impact on which methods of fractionation should be selected in stage of sample preparation. Many techniques used for labeling of peptides, i.e. ICAT and iTRAQ, take advantage of the presence of specific functional groups for quantitative purposes. In addition, proteins and peptide may be modified post-translationally and such modifications may have high impact how we approach them with analytical methodology. Thus taking this together, understanding chemical properties of proteins and peptides is central for successful proteomic study. Short paragraph describing relationship between protein structure and function and significance of such relationship for investigation at the level of systems biology is included.