PEPTIDOMS PROJECT

Projet ANR-24-CE45-3296

“Peptidomics” refers to the large-scale exploratory identification of the pool of peptides present in a biological fluid or tissue. This field is booming in several sectors of the life sciences, as endogenous peptides have proved to be essential players in cellular processes and potential biomarkers of a number of dysfunctions or pathologies. Non-endogenous peptides, which include in particular peptides produced by the ingestion and digestion of food proteins, are also gaining growing interest, as these peptides have multiple biological activities that can be beneficial to health (e.g. antihypertensives, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories) or, on the contrary, undesirable (e.g. allergens).

Until now, the massive data generated in peptidomics has been processed using software designed for proteomics. However, the peptidome has specific features that differentiate it from peptides in proteomics, and the approach therefore carries a high risk of error. Our aim is to design and implement new strategies for peptide identification and results validation that will be tailored to the specificities of peptidomics. Our hypothesis is that the philosophy of Open Mass Search (OMS) algorithms is promising, even if several challenges remain to be overcome in order to have high-performance and reliable software implementing an OMS strategy in peptidomics.

The project proposes ambitious and original developments along these lines, covering both algorithms and validation strategies. The advances made in the two directions will be applied to the study of food allergy to hemp, in order to identify hemp-derived peptides presenting an allergic risk for consumers. Given their generic nature, these developments will open up broad prospects in many other areas of biology using peptidomics approaches.

Coordinator

Hélène Rogniaux - BIBS facility

Partners

• LS2N Nantes Univ., Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique (LS2N), ComBi team, UMR CNRS 6004 – Nantes
• PAPPSO, UMR Génétique Quantitative et Evolution-Le Moulon (GQE), Univ. Paris Saclay, INRAE, CNRS, AgroParisTech
• EdyP laboratory, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, CEA, INSERM – Grenoble

Associated partner

• VIB Computational Omics and Systems Biology Group, VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology – Ghent Univ., Belgium

Duration

oct 2024 – oct 2028