Nordic Life Science 1
BREAKING NEW GROUND // BIOLOGICAL DATABASES PHOTO
HPA BIOLOGICAL DATABASES The Human Protein Atlas, one of the world’s largest biological databases, gives us a more profound understanding of protein expression in different cell types and is a great starting point for new groundbreaking research. T E X T BY P A U L A P É R E Z G O N Z ÁL E Z - AN G U I ANO The protein EGFR is visualized using confocal microscopy and immunofluorescent reporters in a human cell line. T HE HUMAN PROTEIN Atlas (HPA) program was launched in Sweden in 2003 and aims to map all human proteins across cells, tissues, and organs by combining various omics technologies, such as antibody-based imaging, mass spectrometry proteomics, transcriptomics, and systems biology. “Our goal is to map all human proteincoding genes to understand the spatial distribution of proteins across tissues, cells, organelles, and blood, both in healthy and diseased states. This is crucial for deciphering protein function, as specific expression patterns can reveal tissue-specific roles or indicate disease such as cancer 74 | NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG progression,” explains Cecilia Lindskog, Head of the the tissue-based efforts of the HPA. She is also Associate Professor and group leader of a research group focusing on cancer precision medicine at Uppsala University. “My primary research interest is exploring the molecular mechanisms of reproductive organs, both in normal and diseased states,” she says. Open source approach The HPA resource is open access, enabling researchers in academia and industry to freely explore and utilize the data related to the human proteome. “This open-source approach enables researchers to utilize our data and publish their findings, enabling scientific progress. We recognize that we cannot generate all ideas or projects on our own, so engaging the entire scientific community is essential. Our continuous improvements involve adding new data types and enhancing existing datasets for deeper analysis, as scientific advancement is a neverending journey,” says Lindskog. Understanding protein expression in different cell types helps identify the drivers of cancer, and blood proteins in patients may signal disease, offering potential diagnostic tools. “We believe the data is used for pharma companies and researchers as a starting point for further research,” says Lindskog. A comprehensive map The data generated in the HPA project provides detailed information on the location of the 20,000 or so different