Identification of novel proteins

There are still many novel proteins that remain to be discovered. For example, protein translation can start at non-AUG codons as well as the AUG codon. However, those proteins of which translations start at non-AUG are not annotated in the reference protein database, while these proteins can be involved in various diseases. We are discovering those novel proteins using mass spectrometry-based proteomics technologies and investigating their roles in the pathogenesis of various diseases.