Advances in protein sequencing.

Although this review cannot possibly cover the myriad of new ideas reported in the analyses of 1100 proteins, it does attempt to highlight procedures and strategies of interest, admittedly with a bias toward examples most familiar to us. It is clear that the scope, efficiency, and sensitivity of the analyses have increased and will continue to do so. Literally any protein sequence can now be solved. The diversity of tactics and strategies adds to the thrill of the chase. If the next few years continue to show the growing interplay between sequence chemists, X-ray crystallographers, and nucleic acid sequencing groups, we may truly begin to understand the meaning underlying the 20-letter hieroglyphics of protein chemistry.