ProteoMetrics launches RADARS software for protein analysis

In the wake of the human genome project, the next important step toward understanding and curing human disease is the characterization of proteins. Proteins are involved in some way in nearly every process that takes place in the human body. RADARS (Rapid Data Archival and Retrieval System) is an integral part of protein analysis.

Mass spectrometry is a powerful experimental tool that scientists use to identify the protein that plays a key role in the physical process or illness they are researching. To perform mass spectrometry, scientists use enzymes to break down the protein into smaller component pieces called peptides. By gathering information about the masses of the peptides and understanding the actions of the enzyme, mass spectrometry can identify the protein itself because each protein has a unique structure and molecular weight. The method produces so much data that analyzing it and actually identifying the protein can be laborious and time-consuming. Scientists who work in the proteomics field, therefore, need a data handling system that can manage and interpret the large volume of information generated by this powerful tool.

RADARS, a new software package released by ProteoMetrics (New York), is a solution to this industry challenge. RADARS automatically processes the large amounts of data and compares the scientists' results to a database containing information yielded by other protein analysis experiments. The program then immediately suggests the most likely possibilities for which protein the scientists might have found. The development of the software is partly supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

"RADARS is going to change the way proteomics is used for discovering new drug targets," said David Fenyö, president of ProteoMetrics. "It will allow researchers to use proteomics on the same scale as combinatorial chemistry currently uses for identifying small molecule pharmaceuticals."

ProteoMetrics is a bioinformatics company with a focus on the development of software tools for analyzing, storing, and visualizing biological information. ProteoMetrics' suite of software packages is used for the rapid identification and characterization of proteins and protein interactions. These packages have been implemented in the drug discovery process by several major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and facilitate rapid, confidential, and efficient evaluation of very large amounts of data.

For more information, contact Jennifer Krone, sales and marketing manager of ProteoMetrics, at 916-630-1330 or krone@proteometrics.com.

Source: ProteoMetrics