Food Biochemistry and Food Processing

18

Proteomics: Methodology and

Application in Fish Processing

O. T. Vilhelmsson*, S. A. M. Martin, B. M. Poli, and D. F. Houlihan

401

Introduction

Proteomics Methodology

Two-Dimensional Electrophoresis

Some Problems and Their Solutions

Identification by Peptide Mass Fingerprinting

Seafood Proteomics and Their Relevance to Processing and

Quality

Tracking Quality Changes Using Proteomics

Antemortem Effects on Quality and Processability

Antemortem Metabolism and Postmortem Quality

in Trout

Potential for Further Antemortem Protein

Degradation Studies

Can Antemortem Proteomics Shed Light on Gaping

Tendency?

Species Authentication

Identification and Characterization of Allergens

References

INTRODUCTION

Proteomics is most succinctly defined as “the study

of the entire proteome or a subset thereof,” the pro-

teome being the expressed protein complement of

the genome. Unlike the genome, the proteome varies

among tissues, as well as with time, in reflection of

the organism’s environment and its adaptation there-

to. Proteomics can therefore give a snapshot of the

organism’s state of being and, in principle at least,

map the entirety of its adaptive potential and mecha-

nisms. As with all living matter, foodstuffs are in

large part made up of proteins. This is especially

true of fish and meat, where the bulk of the food

matrix is constructed from proteins. Furthermore,

the construction of the food matrix, both on the cel-

lular and tissuewide levels, is regulated and brought

about by proteins. It stands to reason, then, that pro-

teomics is a tool that can be of great value to the

food scientist, giving valuable insight into the

composition of the raw materials; quality involution

within the product before, during, and after process-

ing or storage; and the interactions of the proteins

with one another, with other food components, or

with the human immune system after consumption.

In this chapter, a brief overview of “classical” pro-

teomics methodology is presented, and present and

future applications in relation to fish and seafood

processing and quality are discussed.

PROTEOMICS METHODOLOGY

Unlike nucleic acids, proteins are an extremely var-
iegated group of compounds in terms of their chem-
ical and physical properties. It is not surprising,
then, that a field that concerns itself with “the sys-
tematic identification and characterization of pro-
teins for their structure, function, activity and mo-
lecular interactions” (Peng et al. 2003) should
possess a toolkit containing a wide spectrum of
methods that continue to be developed at a brisk
pace. While high-throughput, gel-free methods, for
example, those based on liquid chromatography tan-
dem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) (Peng et al.
2003), surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization
*Corresponding author. (Hogstrand et al. 2002), or protein arrays (Lee and

Food Biochemistry and Food Processing

Edited by Y. H. Hui

Copyright © 2006 by Blackwell Publishing