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  • 4.3
    Impact Factor
  • 6.4
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  • 28 days
    Submission to First Decision
  • 6 days
    Acceptance to Publication

Proteomes

Proteomes is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on all aspects of proteomics published quarterly online by MDPI. Your place for critical, comprehensive proteomic studies contributing to systems-level understanding.

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All Articles (563)

  • Article
  • Open Access

Background: Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is widely used as a reference material for protein quantification, assessment of mass spectrometry (MS) system performance, enzymatic digestion control, and numerous biochemical applications. Despite its presumed homogeneity, commercial BSA preparations may exhibit substantial molecular heterogeneity affecting analytical performance. Methods: Tryptic digests of four commercial BSA preparations (1 pmol) were characterized by nanoflow high-resolution liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) and bioinformatic analyses alongside a standard of BSA tryptic peptides (50 fmol) routinely used for MS performance assessment. Results: Our investigation revealed multi-level molecular heterogeneity, encompassing: (i) copurified plasma proteins and, surprisingly, milk-derived proteins across all four analyzed commercial BSA preparations; (ii) non-specific proteolysis and diverse post-translational modifications, including adducts compatible with lysine lactylation or advanced glycation end products (AGEs), such as Nε-carboxyethyllysine; and (iii) genetic variants, including the cataloged Ala190Thr variant found in all four BSA preparations and the previously unreported Gly398Pro variant detected exclusively—yet consistently over a seven-year period—in the commercial BSA tryptic digest reference standard. These sources of heterogeneity influence protein composition, proteolytic behavior, physicochemical properties, and analytical parameters, indicating that commercial BSA preparations are not molecularly equivalent reference materials. Conclusions: Structural, genetic, chemical, and biological variability of BSA reflects the general underlying molecular complexity inherent to biologically derived preparations. Our findings challenge the conventional use of commercial BSA as a universal reference standard and highlight the need for routine molecular characterization of biologically derived reference materials before use in refined proteomic and related analytical applications.

Proteomes

13 November 2026

SDS-PAGE analysis of BSA preparations loaded at 5 and 1 µg. BSA preparations from: 1: Amersham/GE Health Care; 2: Merck-Sigma; 3: Sigma-Aldrich; 4: VWR. The analysis shows a clear predominance of the expected MW of 66.4 kDa and, for 5 µg BSA, faint bands at lower MW likely arising from proteolytic products of BSA in addition to higher MW of BSA oligomers, in agreement with previous findings [8]. Raw uncropped images of the stain-free and G-250 stained gels can be found in Supplementary Material, Figure S1.
  • Article
  • Open Access

Background: Persistence under refrigeration is an important feature of Listeria monocytogenes, yet the molecular basis underlying lineage-specific differences in adaptation to these conditions remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated proteomic differences between two L. monocytogenes strains belonging to epidemiologically distinct clonal complexes (CCs), CC9 and CC1, which represent a food-associated, hypovirulent lineage and a hypervirulent, human-associated lineage, respectively. Methods: Cultures of the two L. monocytogenes strains were grown at 10 °C and analysed by label-free quantitative (LFQ) mass spectrometry. Identified proteins were subjected to in silico prediction of antigenic and virulence-associated properties, subcellular analysis, and functional annotation using KEGG pathways. Results: A total of 915 proteins were identified, of which 703 were predicted in silico to be antigenic and/or virulence-associated. Among these, 165 were detected only in the CC9 strain, 49 only in the CC1 strain, and 489 were shared by both strains. The shared protein complement included FlgE, Lmo0723, Dps, PrfA, and RecA, reflecting conserved functions related to motility, stress response, virulence regulation, and genome maintenance. Functional annotation assigned a larger number of proteins to metabolic and cellular pathways in the CC9 strain, largely reflecting the higher number of proteins detected only in this strain, whereas in the CC1 strain carbohydrate metabolism accounted for a larger proportion of the annotated proteins. Quantitative analysis further identified 19 proteins with increased abundance and 66 with decreased abundance in CC1 relative to CC9. Conclusions: These findings reveal distinct proteomic signatures in the CC1 and CC9 strains during growth at low temperature and suggest that their contrasting metabolic and stress-response profiles may be related to their different ecological and pathogenic characteristics. Validation in a larger panel of strains is required to establish whether these features are lineage-associated.

Proteomes

13 November 2026

  • Editorial
  • Open Access

Plant Genomics and Proteomics

  • Setsuko Komatsu and
  • Pingfang Yang

Advances in genomics and proteomics have greatly expanded our understanding of plant biology by providing comprehensive insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying growth, development, and adaptation to environmental challenges [...]

Proteomes

6 November 2026

  • Article
  • Open Access

Proteomics of Human Skin Aging: Molecular and Translational Limits

  • Niki Tertipi,
  • Eleni Sfyri and
  • Efstathios Rallis
  • + 3 authors

Human skin aging comprises changes in extracellular matrix, epidermal differentiation and barrier function, redox balance, protein homeostasis, inflammation, and senescence. This critical narrative review uses structured descriptive charting of published human skin proteomic evidence relevant to adult aging. Original source identification used non-exhaustive PubMed searches and citation checking through 25 August 2026; revision-time verification searches are documented separately. The source-audited adult corpus comprised 35 reports in 31 report families across direct human skin, explants, and primary cells, with adjacent and contextual sources outside these counts. Findings were grouped post hoc by broad biological domain while retaining specimen, exposure, comparator, analytical endpoint, and validation status. Recurrence concerned broad processes rather than identical proteins, directions, or harmonized pathway statistics. Protein-level comparison was constrained by small cohorts, heterogeneous sampling and inference rules, variable statistical reporting, and scarce external validation. Most bottom-up studies resolved protein groups rather than intact proteoforms; peptide-location and cleavage-susceptibility studies showed why abundance, processing, modification, and structural accessibility are distinct. Direct topical-intervention findings were sparse and formulation-specific. The reviewed literature has not yet established a universal skin-aging signature independently validated across compartments, exposures, and platforms. It supports contextual interpretation and candidate prioritization, while proteomic response alone does not establish biological-age reversal or clinical efficacy.

Proteomes

3 November 2026

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Proteomes - ISSN 2227-7382