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David Arnott Senior Scientist: Protein Chemistry |
"The Microchemistry and Proteomics laboratory is part of the Protein Chemistry department, and develops and applies proteomic technology to basic research and drug discovery at Genentech. Key technologies include mass spectrometry, protein sequencing, protein and peptide separations, and chemical and enzymatic protein manipulation. We are well equipped with mass spectrometers (LTQ-FT, LTQ-orbitrap, QSTAR-XL, QTRAP-4000, Voyager DE-STR et al.,) HPLCs, electrophoresis equipment, and related gadgetry.
Research projects include both unbiased proteomic analyses and targeted detection and quantification of selected proteins in complex biological samples. A common type of project is the mapping of protein-protein interactions to better understand the mechanisms and regulation of signal transduction pathways. Posttranslational modification analysis is another common project; most often phosphorylation, but also ubiquitination, glycosylation, disulfides, etc. Quantitative and dynamic protein and PTM measurements are becoming increasingly important aspects of such projects. De novo sequencing is a less common but nevertheless important type of project; on several occasions we have sequenced entire monoclonal antibodies to enable cloning where no cell line or DNA sequence was available.
Methods and technology development are important aspects of our efforts, and active work is being done in the areas of targeted proteomics, quantitation, and various PTM detection and enrichment schemes. We are also interested in the relatively new field of "top-down" proteomics, and plan to upgrade or LTQ mass spectrometer to enable electron-transfer dissociation in the near future. A roadmap for postdoctoral projects is to select an area of technology for development, and apply the new methods to a biological problem in collaboration with other scientists in Genentech Research."