Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics in Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods

Proteomics is the large-scale analysis of a proteome expressed by a genome. A proteome is the entire complement of proteins synthesized in a biological system at a given time and under defined conditions, reflecting the expression of a set of specific genes in the situation pertaining to that time point. A proteome is dynamic and more complex than the genome. A proteome continuously changes in the temporal continuum according to cell type and functional state of the cell. As for example, the human genome encodes about 25,000 functional genes, the human proteome comprises an order of magnitude more proteins (about 250,000) due to alternative splicing and posttranslational modifications. Indeed, proteomic analysis in nutrition research can identify proteins that provide new biomarkers for health promotion and disease diagnosis and enable discovery of the mechanisms whereby food components influence health. However, the application of this technique in intervention trials is still limited. Biomarkers may reflect different stages in a biological process ranging from healthy functioning to a small deviation from a “healthy” equilibrium to disease. As we all know, clinical biomarkers are basically diagnostic biomarkers that identify the incidence and progression of a disease process. Also, biomarker proteins could reflect changes in mechanisms initiated by a dietary intervention studies and its bioavailability. Overall, biomarker discovery is the identification of human plasma protein markers of systemic changes that might be affected by diet. Specific examples include the dietary benefits of daily fish oil supplementation over a period of 6 weeks on the serum proteome. Biomarker proteins from blood cells as well as mechanistic biomarkers from animal studies may contribute significantly in nutrition research through an established proteomic research platform.