Why a ‘protein’ isn’t: acknowledging proteome complexity

The increasing interest in and expansion of proteomics research has brought with it fascinating discoveries and insights into basic biology. However, the level of complexity contained in the proteome as a result of post-translational modifications (PTMs) to proteins – resulting in numerous different proteoforms of each protein –  can often be overlooked. Here, Jens Coorssen (Brock University, St Catherines, Canada) laments the oversimplification of proteomics by perceiving the base protein as entirely representative of its many proteoforms and asks: how could considering the full spectrum of proteoforms revolutionize the translational potential of proteomics? You’ve just witnessed robbers escaping a heist....