Environmental Proteomics Laboratory

The Environmental Proteomics Laboratory (EPL) focuses on the dynamics of the proteome of organisms in response to environmental changes.  The proteome is the entirety of all the proteins and their numerous isoforms in an organism. 

Although the goal of proteomics, the science of studying the proteome, is to describe the entire proteome, in practice, laboratories tend to focus their research on limited parts of the proteome.

Why Focus on Proteins? 

Proteins are the molecular phenotype and as such they are the key cellular machinery that sets in motion cellular responses to changes in the environment..  Studying changing levels of gene expression is an alternative and complementary approach, but genes do not show the same diversity and level of regulation of function that is found  at the level of the gene product – the protein.  Proteomics uses a growing suite of technologies to identify biomarkers for disease stages and to study the effects of pollutants.  The EPL at Cal Poly applies this method to study the effect of environmental changes, such as temperature and osmotic stress, and pollution, such as levels of nitrate, in marine organisms. Cal Poly’s ELP lab is pioneering this work in the United States, bringing exciting research opportunities to Cal Poly students including collaborations with laboratories at Stanford University and the University of California, Davis.