AffinityProteome
Research Areas
At a Glance
- Status: Completed Consortium
- Year Launched: 2009
- Initiating Organization: European Comission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)
- Initiator Type: Government
- No disease focus
- Location: International

Abstract
High-specificity affinity reagents are essential probes for proteome research because they allow the detection and localization of multiple proteins in tissues and fluids in health and disease. The technologies used for these approaches are collectively known as "Affinity Proteomics." AffinityProteome, a European Union (EU) FP7 collaborative research project among five academic partners and five commercial enterprises (four SMEs), developed tools and technologies for high-throughput research based on affinity reagents to study the human proteome. The project focused on resolving bottlenecks in the high throughput production of quality controlled, recombinant binding molecules of different types (antibody fragments, engineered DARPin scaffolds, nucleic acid aptamers) with advanced applications (capture microarrays, single molecule detection, intracellular knockdown). The targets for binder production and analysis are the proteins of the TGF-ß and MAP kinase signal transduction pathways.
Mission
The aim of AffinityProteome is to facilitate and accelerate developments in affinity proteomics for the biotechnology sector by linking producers of recombinant binding molecules with the developers of novel advanced technologies for their application. The binding molecules themselves will encompass both established single-chain antibody fragments and alternative binders of particular promise (ankyrin repeat proteins, nucleic acid aptamers). The innovative technologies of protein microarrays, proximity ligation, and intrabodies will address different areas of binder application.
The project will focus on development of reagents for protein kinases and their targets in cell signaling pathways, which are central to all cellular responses and which, when disregulated, can lead to disorders of cell growth, notably cancers, as well as autoimmunity and a range of other diseases. The specific targets are in the TGF-ß and MAP kinase pathways. The development of validated reagents for detection and potentially modulation of these pathways will be of immediate benefit to clinical research in this vital area and provide new leads for the pharmaceutical industry.
Consortium History
The AffinityProteome proposal was submitted in September 2007 to the Health call 2007-1.1-4 (SME-driven collaborative research projects for developing tools and technologies for high-throughput research) and was approved for negotiation in March 2008. Negotiations were completed and the contract issued in January 2009 and the project started on March 1, 2009, running for three years. The Affinity Proteome project ended in February 2012.
Structure & Governance
Points of Contact
Oda Stoevesandt
Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd
Sponsors & Partners
Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd |
Biaffin GmbH & Co KG |
Source BioScience PLC / Geneservice |
Olink Bioscience AB |
German Cancer Research Centre |
Technical University Braunschweig |
University Kassel |
University Uppsala |
SomaLogic, Inc. |
University of Zurich |