News: Release of HPA14 and the Human Protein Atlas blog

Release of HPA14 and the Human Protein Atlas blog

2015-10-16
Press release HPA14 Mouse Brain Atlas Release

Protein distribution in a single brain section of the mouse brain down to the single cell level.

Focus in version 14 has been to improve validation of the antibodies used to map the human proteome and the inclusion of a new atlas; the Mouse Brain Atlas created by the Fluorescence Tissue Profiling facility at Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) in Stockholm.

Many of the mouse proteins have extensive homology with the human counterpart and this forms the basis for using the mouse brain as a model for the corresponding human brain to explore the expression and distribution of proteins in the various regions and cells of the brain. The new Mouse Brain Atlas, introduced in this version, includes additional brain regions and has additional information on cellular and sub cellular distribution of proteins in the brain. The atlas is interactive, with the possibility of zooming in from a full brain section to single cells in a specific region of the brain.

The new Mouse Brain Atlas includes 88 genes and 129 brain regions

"We believe this antibody-based data set is a valuable complement to our own Human Protein Atlas and other international efforts that map the building-blocks of the brain, such as the Allen Brain Atlas and the Gensat effort." says Dr Jan Mulder, head of the Mouse Brain Atlas effort at SciLifeLab.

The current version of the human protein atlas holds a comprehensive map of protein expression patterns in normal human tissues down to the single cell level. To assure the correct interpretation of the data, the RNA-seq data from transcriptomics has been evaluated against the gene/protein characterization data retrieved from antibody-based methods; antibody reliability, sub-optimal experimental procedures, and potential cross-reactivity has been assessed. The result of the extensive evaluation is summarized in a data reliability description.

Almost 7500 genes have been updated with a data reliability description

In addition to this, co-localization of a fluorescent protein with the target protein has been introduced for antibody characterization and now complements the previously introduced gene silencing (siRNA) technique.

100 genes have been analyzed using co-localization

190 genes have been silenced and analyzed using western blot

256 genes have been silenced and analyzed using immunocytochemistry

Protein Atlas version 14 includes more than 25 000 antibodies and targets proteins from over 17 000 human genes (~86% of the human protein-coding genes).