Pharmacoproteomics: a chess game on a protein field

The application of proteomics in the field of drug discovery development and the assessment of drug administration is known as pharmacoproteomics. As a branch of proteomics – perhaps the most promising and rapidly evolving field of the post-genomic era – pharmacoproteomics has inherited all the promises that pharmacogenomics has hitherto left unfulfilled. On the road to tailor-made drugs, whole protein profiles of healthy individuals have been progressively expanded, either qualitatively or quantitatively. In this review article, we provide general information about technical advancements in the field of proteomics (the pieces of this intriguing chess game) and show how this progress has furthered our understanding of biological systems. Pitfalls on the field of biomarker individuation and drug discovery and/or testing are also discussed.