'Protein Matters and Proteins Matter': Proteomics and Peptidomics in Nutrition and Health

Dear Colleagues,

Nutrition and proteomics form a natural merger of health science with bioanalytical technology. Nutrition has the strongest life-long impact on human health and the science has evolved from elucidating macro- and micronutrient requirements in populations to optimising diets and delivering functional foods for personalised nutrition, all with the aim of maintaining health, preventing (chronic) disease, and enhancing performance. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics and peptidomics are the leading platforms for comprehensive analysis of proteins and peptides for the assessment of food composition, quality, authenticity, and safety, as well as for the revelation of biomarkers for nutritional predisposition and intervention. In the latter context of human clinical studies, mass spectrometry has recently been complemented by DNA aptamer technology.

For this Special Issue, we invite contributions on the latest cutting-edge science about proteomics and peptidomics technology, and their deployment for (a) analysis of food composition, quality, authenticity, and safety; (b) identification of biomarkers for dietary intervention and individual predisposition; and (c) discovery and characterization of bioactive food peptides with specific health benefits, thereby leveraging food proteins beyond their purely nutritional value.

We especially encourage submissions addressing today’s food/nutrition proteomic challenges, e.g., characterising less annotated food proteomes; revealing biomarkers by minimally invasive means, such as from the blood, and as typically required in nutritional interventions; and leveraging the health potential of bioactive plant and food peptides, which remains hidden, unless these peptides are unlocked and delivered from their parent proteins. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and perspectives/opinions.

Thank you very much for your kind consideration of joining us in this timely and pertinent collection of articles about proteomics in nutrition and health.

Dr. Martin Kussmann
Guest Editor

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