About this Research Topic
To date, there are still hundreds of uncharacterized proteins encoded by the human genome. Besides the DNA and amino acid sequence information, no known biological functions are revealed for these uncharacterized proteins so far, there is a potential missing link of these unknowns to the currently known biological circuits.
The study of all the remaining uncharacterized proteins in the human proteome might be challenging yet with excitement, let us not forget the transition from knowing nothing to the very first discovery of the biological function of a particular uncharacterized protein. As time goes on, we believe someday scientists would be able to uncover all the biological functions of these uncharacterized proteins and later on have these protein names updated according to their characteristics. Although the existence of these uncharacterized proteins is known for years, we are still at the beginning of this discovery journey as currently, the process from the start to the elucidation of the first biological function of a particular uncharacterized protein is generally slow and not systematic, thus there is an urgent need in finding ways to accelerate the researches in characterizing all these uncharacterized proteins.
In this research topic, we welcome Original Research, Review, and Mini-Review articles focusing on uncharacterized human protein research. The themes that we wish to include but are not limited to the following:
- Systematic analysis of uncharacterized human proteins;
- Mutations and nonsynonymous SNP variants of uncharacterized human proteins and isoforms;
- Activity and functional analyses of uncharacterized human proteins;
- Integration of uncharacterized human proteins to the existing protein network;
- (Epi)genetic/transcriptional regulation on territories of the uncharacterized human protein genes;
- Stability and turnover mechanism of uncharacterized human proteins;
- Cellular dynamics, subcellular localizations, and tissue distributions of uncharacterized human proteins;
- Identification, validation, and functional characterization of post-translational modifications (PTMs) of uncharacterized human proteins by targeted/untargeted mode proteomic approach;
- Expression levels of uncharacterized human proteins in normal and diseased states and their relationships to human health and physiology.
The study of all the remaining uncharacterized proteins in the human proteome might be challenging yet with excitement, let us not forget the transition from knowing nothing to the very first discovery of the biological function of a particular uncharacterized protein. As time goes on, we believe someday scientists would be able to uncover all the biological functions of these uncharacterized proteins and later on have these protein names updated according to their characteristics. Although the existence of these uncharacterized proteins is known for years, we are still at the beginning of this discovery journey as currently, the process from the start to the elucidation of the first biological function of a particular uncharacterized protein is generally slow and not systematic, thus there is an urgent need in finding ways to accelerate the researches in characterizing all these uncharacterized proteins.
In this research topic, we welcome Original Research, Review, and Mini-Review articles focusing on uncharacterized human protein research. The themes that we wish to include but are not limited to the following:
- Systematic analysis of uncharacterized human proteins;
- Mutations and nonsynonymous SNP variants of uncharacterized human proteins and isoforms;
- Activity and functional analyses of uncharacterized human proteins;
- Integration of uncharacterized human proteins to the existing protein network;
- (Epi)genetic/transcriptional regulation on territories of the uncharacterized human protein genes;
- Stability and turnover mechanism of uncharacterized human proteins;
- Cellular dynamics, subcellular localizations, and tissue distributions of uncharacterized human proteins;
- Identification, validation, and functional characterization of post-translational modifications (PTMs) of uncharacterized human proteins by targeted/untargeted mode proteomic approach;
- Expression levels of uncharacterized human proteins in normal and diseased states and their relationships to human health and physiology.
Keywords: Uncharacterized human proteins, Open reading frame (ORF), Genomics, Post-translational modifications (PTMs), Systems biology, (Epi)genetics, Proteomics
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
