The human protein atlas

Abstract

Antibody-based proteomics provides a powerful approach for the functional study of the human proteome involving the systematic generation of protein-specific affinity reagents. The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) program has been set up to allow for a systematic exploration of the human proteome using Antibody-Based Proteomics and is expected to deliver the first draft of the human proteome by the year 2014. This is accomplished by combining high-throughput generation of affinity-purified antibodies with protein profiling in a range of tissues and cells assembled in tissue microarrays. Confocal microscopy analysis using human cell lines is performed for more detailed, subcellular protein localization. The program hosts the Human Protein Atlas portal (www.proteinatlas.org) with expression profiles and images of human proteins in tissues and cells3. The new version 7 of the atlas, including more than 10 million images of immunohistochemically stained tissues and cells, is based on 13154 antibodies, representing 10118 genes comprising approximately 50% of the human genome.