Proteomic analysis of transcription factor interactions in myeloid stem cell development and leukaemia.

Recent results indicate that interactions of transcription factors with other nuclear proteins play an important role in stem cell development, lineage commitment and differentiation in the haematopoietic system, and the pathogenesis of myeloid leukaemias. High-throughput proteomics by mass spectrometric analysis of gel-separated proteins can identify multi-protein complexes and changes in the expression of multiple proteins simultaneously. This review describes an application of proteomic methods (2D gel electrophoresis (GE) and mass spectrometry (MS)), which can be used to identify regulated protein targets of transcription factors important in myeloid differentiation and leukaemia. This global high-throughput functional proteomics approach could lead to new insights into the network of protein-protein interactions and target proteins involved in myeloid stem cell development and leukaemia as well as provide new targets for rational pathogenesis-based therapies of leukaemia and cancer.