10 Years History of KHUPO
thAHUPO 6 Congress“Proteomics: Better forLife”

May 5-7, 2012
Beijing, China

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

History of KHUPO

1

PST 6 th Symposium

2Proteomics Activities in Vietnam 3

3rd Frontiers Symposium

4

6th AOHUPO Congress

5

Upcoming Events

6

Greeting Message

7

The Korean Human Proteome
Organization(KHUPO)
wasfounded on July 24, 2001 as thefirst national organization under theauspicesofHUPO
tointegrate(www.hupo.org)
proteome research groups intointernational organizations, toengage in scientific and educational
activities that spread proteomicstechnologies, and to disseminate
knowledge pertaining to humandiseases. The logos of HUPO andKHUPO were designed by
KHUPO and acknowledged at thisinaugural meeting. Dr. Young-Ki
Paik served the first and second
term of KHUPO president. Inaddition, following his service as
the Secretary General of HUPO
(2001-2006)/AOHUPO(20012007), he took a leadership as 4th
president of HUPO (2009/2010)
and 2nd president of AOHUPO(2008-2010). The 2nd KHUPOInternational meeting was held inconjunction with the inaugural
meeting of AOHUPO in which
about 800 members were attended.
During the years of 2003-2006,
three special issues of ‘Proteomics’
where most of the contributing
authors are KHUPO members havebeen published by the guidance ofY.-K. Paik (senior editor of thejournal). Thus, it would be fair tosay that the KHUPO can be
regarded as a flagship proteomesociety with respect to history,
membersizeanddynamicparticipation in HUPO activities.

KHUPO successfully hosted the HUPO 6th
Annual World Congress at COEX Seoul,
Korea in 2007. This Congress has beenmarked as one of the most successful
HUPO congresses with the highest numberof registrants. KHUPO has contributed toall facets of HUPO activities including its
leading roles in numerous HUPO activities.
For example, KHUPO members have
served co-chair or chair of various HUPO
initiatives: Chromosome-Centric Human
Proteome Project (Y.-K. Paik), Human
Brain Proteome Project (YM Park) andStem Cell Proteomics (BH Lee).
Inaddition, KHUPO published a technicaltextbook, ‘Methods in Proteomics’ in 2008as part of her commitment to education andtraining.
For the last 10 years, KHUPO has been led
by four presidents; Y-K Paik (2001-2005),
Y-M Park (2005-2007), Jong Shin Yoo(2008-2009), and Ho Jeong Kwon (20102011). With 1150 member strong, KHUPO
has recently hosted the 11th Annual Meetingin Busan, March 31-April 1, in
commemoration with her 10th year birthday
where about 400 members attended. Incelebration with this event, KHUPO also
published the KHUPO 10 Years historybook.
KHUPO, along with her regionalorganizations of AOHUPO, has also been
dedicated to promoting understanding of theproteomics,
byhostingproteomics
workshops and conferences during the pastyears. Thus, KHUPO will serve as a key
part of world proteome societies and willcontinue to function in her unique role,
under the auspices of HUPO.
Detailed information about the KHUPO isavailable at http://www.khupo.org/.

Human Asian Oceania
Proteome Organizationwww.aohupo.org

Page 16th International Symposium of the Protein Society of Thailand
The Protein Society of Thailand (PST) organized the its 6th International Symposium at the Chulabhorn
Convention Center, Bangkok on 31st August to 2nd September 2011. This year’s meeting was jointly
hosted by PST, Mahidol University, and Chulabhorn Research Institute. PST was honored to have
Young-Ki Paik (Past President, Human Proteome Organization, HUPO), Kazuyuki Nakamura(President, Asia-Oceania Human Proteome Organization, AOHUPO), and Yuji Goto (Past President,Asia Pacific Protein Association, APPA) present as Invited Speakers, helping to link PST with regional
and international organizations in protein research.
The main symposium program was attended by 269 registered participants, and included 10 Invited
Lectures, 8 Oral Presentations selected from submitted Abstracts, plus 83 Posters presentations,competing for awards. Topics covered a broad spectrum of protein research, including structure andfunction relationships not only in enzymes but also in fibrous proteins, as well as the roles of proteins invarious diseases, studied by various techniques, such as x-ray crystallography, protein NMR, stop-flow
kinetics, microscopy and bioinformatics. The Protein Society (USA) also offered 3 Honorary
Memberships to award-winning students. In addition, a Pre-Symposium workshop on “DiseaseProteomics” was held one day before the symposium.
The Annual PST meetings have now developed a special character of their own, unlike any othermeeting in Thailand. Special emphasis is placed on young scientists, at both young Ph.D. staff andgraduate student level, since these young people will develop into future leaders of protein research.
Efforts are also made to involve companies, both as Company Members and Exhibitors, because theirinvolvement will help research develop in the country, which in the end will also benefit them. Most ofall, meetings are arranged with the aim of being not only excellent academically but also enjoyable,
through having a scientific program of international quality, accompanied by fun and games, arranged
with the help of companies, so as to engage the young people.
PST is steadily growing in strength and would welcome the opportunity to host a regional protein
meeting of APPA or AOHUPO in the near future.
Professor Jisnuson Svasti,
President, Protein Society of Thailand

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Proteomics Activities in Vietnam
In Vietnam, proteomics started actually just after the funding and setting up the number of key laboratories, being
considered as one of the most important national activities for life science and biotechnology development in the period
2001-2005. The most related and advanced are the Laboratories for Gene and Protein Technologies at the Institute ofBiotechnology (IBT), Vietnamese Academy of Science & Technology (VAST, Hanoi), the Laboratories for Protein andEnzyme Technology, Vietnam National University (VNU, Hanoi), Laboratories of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
at Hanoi University of Technology (HUT, Hanoi), Hanoi Medical University (HMU, Hanoi), Laboratories of Cell andMolecular Biology at the Institute of Tropical Biology (ITB, VAST, HoChiMinh City), Vietnam Military MedicalUniversity (VMMU, Hadong). Some newly modern well-equipped laboratories are located in different researchinstitutions belonging to Ministry of Health, National/Regional Universities, Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment... (Hanoi, Hue, Danang, Cantho, HoChiMinh City…). The research involves mostly traditional approachbased on two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE)/differential gel electrophoresis (DIGE) followed by mass
spectrometric identification of proteins. Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-MS) has
become a widely used for determination of biomolecules including peptides, proteins (IBT, VNU, VMMU…). Use ofbioinformatics is essential for analyzing the massive amount of data generated from both genomics and proteomics. Forthe protein and proteome characterization, a new proteomic workflow that begins with an automated NanoMultidimensional Liquid Chromatography (MDnanoLC Packing, Dionex, Netherland) system coupled online with aQSTAR® XL MS/MS System (MDS SCIEX/Applied Biosystems) with a NanoSpray™ ion source has been established(IBT, VAST). Much of the work focus now on the human serum/urine proteome profiling, the identification of novel
genes/proteins that might be related to the different kind of cancers, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and infectiondiseases (IBT, VNU, HUT, HMU…).

Vietnam Proteomics Society (VNProteomics, VPS) established as a Cooperate Member/Sub-society under Vietnam
Med-Biochemistry Association, intends to consolidate and promote scientific, innovative research and educational
activities related to proteomics in Vietnam, and to facilitate the exchange of scientific information between scientists
worldwide. The first VNProteomics Meeting was held on April 1-2, 2009, in Hai Phong with the participation of morethan 90 scientists. The VNProteomics Council Members for the period 2009-2014 were elected as the representatives
from different universities and research institutions all over the country: Phan Van Chi (Chairman, IBT, VAST, Hanoi),Trinh Hong Thai (VNU, Hanoi), Nguyen Bich Nhi (General Secretary, IBT, VAST, Hanoi), Hoang Van Son (Trang AnHospital, Vietnam Medical Association, Hanoi), Truong Quoc Phong (HUT, Hanoi), Nguyen Thanh Phuong (Can Tho
University, CTU, Can Tho City), Phung Vo Cam Hong (Nong Lam University, HoChiMinh City), Pham Quang Chinh(Hue University, HU, Hue City), Dao Van Tan, (Hanoi National University of Education, HNUE, Hanoi), Le Van Dong
(Vietnam Military Medical University, VMMU, Hadong). Proteomics education and training are the main focus of themost cited universities and research institutions. These activities include courses (basic and advanced courses),
workshops, laboratory networking and tutorials. As proved by the recent meeting of the VNProteomics Council
Members, some workshops will be organized during 2011-2012 and the second VNProteomics Meeting is planned on
the March, 2013.
Prepared by Phan Van Chi (chi@ibt.ac.vn)
Page 33rd International Symposium on Frontiers in Agriculture Proteome Research:
Contribution of proteomics technology in agricultural sciences
The 3rd International Symposium on “Frontiers in Agriculture Proteome Research: Contribution of proteomics
technology in agricultural sciences” was held on November 8-10, 2011. The venue was Tsukuba International Congress
Center (EPOCHAL) in Tsukuba Science City, about 50 km north of Tokyo. The symposium was attended by 152(38from overseas and 114 in Japan)participants, and included 26 Invited Lectures. In the rapidly growing economics ofworld, food security has become a priority concern. With a rising population and climate change, efforts at enhancing
agricultural productivity will be a key factor in alleviating this major concern. Proteomics is a powerful approach toidentify a broad spectrum of proteins in living systems. This capability is especially useful for agriculture because it
may give clues not only about nutritional value but also about yield production and how these factors are affected byadverse environmental conditions. In recent years, technical improvements in the extraction, separation, quantification,and identification of plant proteins have made the high-throughput analysis of cropproteins feasible, and thereproducibility of the technologyhas reduced errors in assaying protein levels. The application of mass spectrometrybased quantification methods have become mainstream, although gel-based quantification methods are still useful for
proteomics analyses.
The symposium covered a vast area of plant proteomics related to growth and development of major crop plants andtheir response to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Furthermore insect, animal, microbes, and food proteomics werediscussed in detail. Several talks about cutting-edge technologies for studying crop proteomics were presented. The
contribution of proteomics in elucidating signaling mechanisms in plants was also highlighted. Integration of proteomics
data with genomics and application of bioinformatics tools was emphasized. Finally, the application of proteomics inagriculture and molecular breeding programs was also presented and discussed. Questions from the budding researchers
after each lecture made it an interactive and fruitful symposium.
Presented talks showed the breadth of proteome studies related to agriculture, despite the nascent stage of the field.
While power of proteomics approach in studying important agricultural traits were presented, challenges remain to beaddressed before proteomics research can be fully interpreted and applied in agriculture. It was agreed that continued
improvement in reproducibility, sensitivity and accuracy of analytical tools, availability of advanced breeding materials
and mutants, appropriate phenotypic measurements and filed studies, combining different “omics” technologies, anddevelopment of new bioinformatics remain critical for fruitful agricultural proteomics studies in near future.
The symposium providedunique opportunities for scientists in agricultural proteomics field to interact with each other,share views and knowledge and develop collaborative research projects to further enhance the application of proteomics
in agriculture and food production. Agricultural proteome research community should support for holding symposium inthis filed.
Setsuko Komatsu, National Institute of Crop Science, Tsukuba, Japan (skomatsu@affrc.go.jp)

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UPCOMING EVENTS
February
2012

March2012

September
2012

17th Lorne Proteomics Symposium
Welcome to the annual meeting of the AustralasianProteomics Society
2nd – 5th February, 2012
Mantra Erskine Beach Resort, Lorne, Australia

KHUPO 12th Annual International Proteomics Conference“Proteomics for Functional Genomics”
March 29– 30, 2012
New Millenium Building, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea" HUPO 11th Annual World Congress, (HUPO2012)
September 9-13, 2012
Boston, USA

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To those of you who celebrate new year , HAPPY NEW YEAR on behalf of
AOHUPO EC Members and Newsletter Editor. We hope all of you enjoy
your break and have a fun time ringing in the New YearAny material submitted will be subject to approval by the AOHUPO
Executive Committee and the Publications CommitteeAOHUPO EC members:
President: Kazuyuki Nakamura (Japan)(nakamura@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp)
Past President :Young-Ki Paik (South Korea)(paikyk@yonsei.ac.kr)
Vice President: Fuchu He (China)(hefc@bmi.ac.cn)
Vice President: Bill Jordan (New Zealand)(Bill.Jordan@vuw.ac.nz)
Secretary General: Maxey C.M. Chung (Singapore)(bchcm@nus.edu.sg)
Directors of Human Embryonic Stem Cell MPI:
Ghasem Hosseini Salekdeh (Iran)(h_salekdeh@abrii.ac.ir)
Yu-Ju Chen (Taiwan) (yjchen@chem.sinica.edu.tw)

If you wish to contribute news, noticesof events, or any other items, pleasefeel free to forward it to AOHUPO
Newsletter Office:Iranian Proteomics Society
P.O. Box (31535- 1897), Karaj, Iran.
Telfax : +98-261-2702893
Email: h_salekdeh@abrii.ac.ir
Newsletter Editor :Ghasem Hosseini Salekdeh (Iran)Page 7