Post-translational Modifications and Their Biological Functions: Proteomic Analysis and Systematic Approaches

Recently produced information on post-translational modifications makes it possible to interpret their biological regulation with new insights. Various protein modifications finely tune the cellular functions of each protein. Understanding the relationship between post-translational modifications and functional changes ("post-translatomics") is another enormous project, not unlike the human genome project. Proteomics, combined with separation technology and mass spectrometry, makes it possible to dissect and characterize the individual parts of post-translational modifications and provide a systemic analysis. Systemic analysis of post-translational modifications in various signaling pathways has been applied to illustrate the kinetics of modifications. Availability will advance new technologies that improve sensitivity and peptide coverage. The progress of "post-translatomics", novel analytical technologies that are rapidly emerging, offer a great potential for determining the details of the modification sites.