Introduction

With the completion of the human genome sequencing project [1, 2], the next great challenge in the life sciences in this millennium will be in decoding of the genome information in terms of regulation and function. Gradually, the emphasis of the Human Genome Project is starting to shift towards functional genomics, an area of the post-genomic era that aims to identify and fuctionally characterize proteins, the main effectors of cellular function. Indeed, today we are experiencing a rapid explosion of technology for the high throughput expression analysis of genes and their products.

Proteomics is a key area of research within functional genomics. First derived by Wilkins and colleagues in 1996 [3], the term proteomics describes an emerging technology making use of a plethora of protein analysis techniques (high-resolution two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis [2D PAGE], mass spectrometry, bioinformatics, etc.) to resolve, quantitate and identify proteins as well as to reveal their interacting partners. This information, together with protein behavioural data generated in various cell types and tissues, has speeded up the establishment of comprehensive 2D PAGE databases that aim to link protein information with DNA sequencing and mapping data from genome projects [4–7; http:/biobase.dk/cgi-bin/celis]. 2D PAGE databases play an important role in the functional annotation of genes and, in particular, human proteomic databanks are expected to expedite drug discovery by pinpointing candidate drug targets on the basis of changes in the proteome expression profile of biopsies obtained from patients and controls [8].