This week is very stressful because I am doing a 2200+ euros 2D-DIGE experiment (*) on samples from a rat organ we never studied before and from which I cannot obtain any more new samples.
We found a new pattern of proteins dispersion (compared to our previous experiments on other organs) and, more importantly, we found a clear difference in protein expression in at least 2 spots. In the image below, all the whitish spots mean proteins in these spots are found in equal amounts in the 3 conditions. But spots in red or green mean proteins expressed at different levels (even on/off) between conditions!
Now, we’ll have to perform a more mathematical/quantitative exploration of these expression patterns and hopefully identify these interesting proteins by mass spectrometry.
(*) 5nmol of Cy dyes (proteins labelling molecules) cost 2215 euros and weight something like 2.75*10-6g! I used nearly all that amount for my experiment. And I don’t take into account the 3-lasers scanner and common lab reagents
Jean-Etienne's blog 