Author: Publisher

{{The first two attempts at a database of every single human protein – the “proteome” – have been made public.}}

This builds on our knowledge of the genome by showing which genes actually produce proteins in which tissues.

One team in Germany and one spanning the US and India have published their proteome maps in the journal Nature, and on searchable, public websites.

Some of the 17-to-18,000 reported proteins arise from stretches of DNA previously thought to be “non-coding”.

Along the vast length of DNA packed inside each of our cells, our genes are the sections which contain the instructions, or code, for making proteins.

“While we have a good idea of what the genome looks like, we didn’t know how many of those potentially 20,000 protein-coding genes would actually make protein,” said Prof Bernhard Kuester, who led the German team at the University of Technology, Munich.

{{Unexpected results}}

To find out, the researchers extracted all of the protein from many different samples of human tissues, as well as a number of cell lines.

The proteins in that purified mixture were then chopped into small pieces and a technique called mass spectrometry revealed the sequence of amino acids forming each of those pieces.

With a lot of computing power and patience, these batches of protein fragments can be compared with the human genome to make a map, showing which genes in which tissues are “expressed” and producing protein.

“This is the first inventory, if you like,” Prof Kuester told media, “like a dozen years ago with the first draft of the human genome.”

And just like the results of the Human Genome Project, these data contain some surprises.

Both groups found hundreds of unexpected proteins, produced by fragments of ancient genes (called “pseudogenes”) or by lengths of DNA that were not thought to be genes at all.

As well as the newcomers, there were notable absences. “We have good reason to believe that there are hundreds of known, annotated genes that perhaps are redundant,” said Prof Kuester.

The team based in the US and India, led by Prof Akhilesh Pandey of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, found evidence for only 84% of the proteins that might be predicted from looking at the genome.

{{Beyond genetics}}

Prof Pandey told the media it was important to study the proteins themselves, as well as the genes that encode them.

He offered an example of how a researcher, investigating a particular gene, might use one of the new databases: “They can look at the expression and get clues about what it could be doing.

For example if a protein is expressed in the foetal gut and not the adult gut, then they might think of some sort of developmental process.”

The tissue-by-tissue breakdown could also help scientists trying to figure out the actions and side effects of drugs.

By comparing the proteome of various cancer cell lines, Prof Kuester and his team have already identified certain clusters of proteins that could increase or decrease sensitivity to cancer drugs.

Dr Kevin Mills, who uses proteomics to study rare diseases at the UCL Institute of Child Health, agrees that it is crucial to look “beyond genomics” at protein levels and how they vary.

“Genetics can’t tell us everything,” said Dr Mills, who was not involved in either study. “This is really important. We’re not static – we’re fluid and dynamic and our proteome changes continually.”

BBC

{{In an unprecedented, three-year cyber espionage campaign, Iranian hackers created false social networking accounts and a fake news website to spy on military and political leaders in the United States, Israel and other countries, a cyber intelligence firm said on Thursday.}}

ISight Partners, which uncovered the operation, said the hackers’ targets include a four-star U.S. Navy admiral, U.S. lawmakers and ambassadors, members of the U.S.-Israeli lobby, and personnel from Britain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The firm declined to identify the victims and said it could not say what data had been stolen by the hackers, who were seeking credentials to access government and corporate networks, as well as infect machines with malicious software.

“If it’s been going on for so long, clearly they have had success,” iSight Executive Vice President Tiffany Jones told media. The privately held company is based in Dallas, Texas and provides intelligence on cyber threats.

ISight dubbed the operation “Newscaster” because it said the Iranian hackers created six “personas” who appeared to work for a fake news site, NewsOnAir.org, which used content from the Associated Press, BBC, Reuters and other media outlets.

The hackers created another eight personas who purported to work for defense contractors and other organizations, iSight said.

The hackers set up false accounts on Facebook and other online social networks for these 14 personas, populated their profiles with fictitious personal content, and then tried to befriend target victims, according to iSight.

The operation has been active since at least 2011, iSight said, noting that it was the most elaborate cyber espionage campaign using “social engineering” that has been uncovered to date from any nation.

To build credibility, the hackers would approach high-value targets by first establishing ties with the victims’ friends, classmates, colleagues, relatives and other connections over social networks run by Facebook Inc, Google Inc and its YouTube, LinkedIn Corp and Twitter Inc.

The hackers would initially send the targets content that was not malicious, such as links to news articles on NewsOnAir.org, in a bid to establish trust.

Then they would send links that infected PCs with malicious software, or direct targets to web portals that ask for network log-in credentials, iSight said.

The hackers used the 14 personas to make connections with more than 2,000 people, the firm said, adding that it believed the group ultimately targeted several hundred individuals.

“This campaign is not loud. It is low and slow,” said Jones. “They want to be stealth. They want to be under the radar.”