In this issue

No service under 21 Sign common behind the bar in American night clubs. Unfortunately, it is essentially posted over the birth channel for human babies. Somewhere the message is passed along to the innate immune cells, yes, the ones responsible for protecting the neonatal infant from microbial infection. Yu et al. pick up the tools of proteomics research to do some exploring and find that all newborns are incompletely specified immunologically. Using 2‐D PAGE they compared mononuclear cells from cord blood and adult peripheral MNC. Some 34 proteins were identified as differentially distinguishable in two major pathways: cellular processing and purine metabolism. Increased sensitivity found a number of additional functions (exhibiting negative correlation), including Th1, Toll‐like receptors, cytokines, and others. pp. 3491–3500Q. When is cold hot? A. When the hot topic in bacterial decontamination and a variety of other medical applications is cold plasma. But how can a plasma be cold if it is hot? Physics. The “fourth state of matter” is made up of ions, free electrons and, depending on the application, atoms, free radicals and molecules. The plasma can be generated in various ways as well. To sort out some of these interactions, Winter et al. developed a growth chamber for reproducible plasma exposure of microbes and mammalian cells. A preliminary scan of the proteome of Bacillus subtilis was made with an argon plasma jet and analyzed by 2‐D PAGE. The sample solution was turned inside the Argon‐flooded chamber to give a thickness of approximately 10 μm and a peak voltage of 20 kV pp . Biological effects were determined after plasma ignition. The temperature rose ∼1.5°C. Approximately 280 genes were regulated. pp. 3518–3530This little piggie went to market Doping of athletes to enhance performance is difficult to detect for a variety of reasons. Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) is a particular challenge because of the short half‐life of the natural substance. Ding et al. took a serum sampling proteomic approach with samples randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled crossover study. Significant changes were verified by Western blots. In addition to rhGH, naturally occurring minor proteins were also affected: specific isoforms of α‐1 antitrypsin, and transthyretin increased, inter α trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H4, apolipoprotein A1 and hemoglobin β‐chain all decreased. Simple pattern recognition of the novel protein changes could provide a foundation for a quick and reliable doping test. pp. 3565–3571