As written in the journal Nature, researchers examined the blood of 3300 donors, identifying 1478 proteins, encoded by 1927 genes (the number of genes does not coincide with the number of proteins because – researchers have discovered – the same protein can be expressed, sometimes, by different DNA traits, as well as in different quantities). The study conducted by Cambridge researchers has yielded a four-fold increase in the knowledge of the quantity of information found in the proteins in plasma. And this database may become a very valuable departure point for identifying the pathway that leads several types of normal proteins to change, opening the doors to different diseases. In particular, the researchers focused their attention on eczema and Crohn’s disease, but they also discovered, for example, that a protein called MMP12, which has always been associated with several kids of lung disease, is also conversely linked to heart disease and strokes: high levels of MMP12 appear to reduce the risk of lung disease, but increase the risk of heart problems. This information, of course, must be considered very carefully by those studying the drugs targeted at MMP12.
