ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Unlike the human genome that is relatively xed and steady throughout the human body, the human proteome (protein complement to the genome) is by several orders of magnitude more complex, diverse, and dynamic. Any single gene can produce a heterogeneous population of proteins that can be further modied by post-translational modications such as phosphorylation. e result is a human proteome estimated at considerably over a million proteins to only ∼25,000 human genes (1). Several studies have indicated that the genome’s transcriptome (mRNA expression levels) does not necessarily predict the abundance or functional activity of proteins (2,3). Rather, it is the human proteome that signicantly contributes to physiological homeostasis in any cell or tissue (4). Various biological conditions including age, gender, diet, lifestyle, medication, and disease, among others, directly impact the composition of the human proteome in any particular cell or tissue, generating a unique proteomic signature (5). e characterization of protein signatures during embryonic development has the potential to address a variety of unresolved topics, with the ultimate goal of expanding our knowledge of embryonic cellular processes and the evolution of viability assays.
