Research

Genome annotation, transcriptomic and proteomic pipelines have traditionally dismissed proteins encoded by short open reading frames (sORF) known as microproteins. Microproteins are small proteins (<100 amino acids) encoded by short open reading frames present in coding and non-coding regions. This provides a pool of unexplored functional genes. Despite the increasing body of work in identifying the microproteome in different model organisms and cell lines, only a few have been functionally studied showing diverse regulatory roles in multiple cellular pathways. Understanding the role of microproteins in innate immune cells upon pathogen activation will broaden our current knowledge of the innate immune response at a fundamental level. Moreover, Identifying novel proteins can lead to the finding of new cellular regulatory mechanisms, to uncover new druggable targets and antimicrobial strategies.