Identification of protein biomarkers in human serum using iTRAQ and shotgun mass spectrometry.

Blood serum is one of the easiest accessible sources of biomarkers and its proteome presents a significant parcel of immune system proteins. These proteins can provide not only biological explanation but also diagnostic and drug response answers independently of the type of disease or condition in question. Shotgun mass spectrometry has profoundly contributed to proteome analysis and is presently considered as an indispensible tool in the field of biomarker discovery.

A unique family of proteins associated with internalized membranes in protein storage vacuoles of the Brassicaceae.

The protein storage vacuole (PSV) is a specialized organelle in plant seeds that accumulates storage proteins and phytate during seed development. In many plant species, such as tomato and tobacco, the PSV contains two types of microscopically visible intra-organellar inclusions: a large crystalline lattice of membranes and proteins, the crystalloid, and one or a few large phytate crystals, the globoids. In seeds of the family Brassicaceae, the PSVs lack visible crystalloids and have many small globoids dispersed throughout.