 Cancers can develop when proteins are not working properly |
Scientists at Scotland's top cancer research institute have been awarded a share in an �8m European grant. The Beatson Institute in Glasgow will take part in Interaction Proteome, a project which will bring together Europe's leading researchers.
It aims to catalogue the complex functions and interactions of thousands of proteins found in the human body.
The project will analyse which proteins have a role in cancer and identify new targets for anti-cancer drugs.
Future research
Proteins are made by the genes in the body's cells and affect every aspect of cell behaviour.
Cancers can develop when proteins are not working properly.
Professor Walter Kolch, leading the work at the Beatson Institute, said: "Proteomics is an emerging science that aims to answer questions about proteins and how they work.
"There are many researchers in Scotland already studying proteomics, so this project is a chance for us to take the lead and establish a firm basis for future research.
 |  It will deliver a wealth of data on how and where proteins talk to each other, which will undoubtedly help us develop treatments for cancer  |
"The project has huge implications for our understanding of cancer. We will be able to categorise the proteins that are faulty in cancer, and design new drugs using this knowledge."
Professor Kolch's team was asked to join forces with other leading scientists in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Professor James Cassidy, chair of the Cancer Research UK Department of Medical Oncology at Glasgow University, said the Interaction Proteome project would "essentially do for proteins what the Human Genome Project did for genes".
He said: "It will deliver a wealth of data on how and where proteins talk to each other, which will undoubtedly help us develop treatments for cancer."
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