This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Sanderson, C. M. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sanderson, C. M. Related Content Related Article Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Perspective

A new way to explore the world of extracellular protein interactions

Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3BX, United Kingdom

Eukaryotic genomes encode large numbers of proteins that are either secreted or have exposed extracellular domains. It is highly likely that these proteins facilitate many important biological processes: however, as yet, most remain uncharacterized. Progress in this area of research has been impaired by the lack of a robust screening system that can be used to investigate interactions between large numbers of different extracellular proteins. In this issue, Bushell et al. introduce AVEXIS (avidity-based extracellular interaction screen), a high-throughput screening procedure, which can be used to identify even weak extracellular protein interactions with extremely high confidence. This assay represents an important development in the field of network biology. By combining data from the AVEXIS system with data produced by classical or variant yeast two-hybrid methods, it will be possible to assemble binary protein interaction networks that connect extracellular and intracellular processes. This information will dramatically increase our ability to understand a wide range of physiological processes and facilitate the development of better therapeutic strategies.

E-mail c.sanderson{at}liv.ac.uk; Fax 44-(0)-151-7944434.

Article is online at http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.074583.107.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Related Article

Large-scale screening for novel low-affinity extracellular protein interactions

K. Mark Bushell, Christian Söllner, Benjamin Schuster-Boeckler, Alex Bateman, and Gavin J. Wright
Genome Res. 2008 18: 622-630. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]