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BIOLOGICAL DATABASES // HPA ”THIS OPEN-SOURCE APP
ROACH ENABLES RESEARCHERS TO UTILIZE OUR DATA AND PUBLISH THEIR FINDINGS, ENABLING SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.” human proteins within the body, showing where each is expressed – whether in a specific organ, cell type, or organelle. “This creates a comprehensive map, so we call it an "Atlas." We present this data through microscopic images that are stained using antibody-based proteomics, allowing visualization of protein distribution across tissues,” says Lindskog. The main challenges that the HPA has encountered along the path are connected to the fact that research is continually evolving, and new findings often prompt re-evaluation of previous analyses from different perspectives, says Lindskog. “This means the work is never truly finished, there's always an opportunity to delve deeper and enhance the data in various ways. Even large projects can be expanded and refined over time, ensuring that improvements and advancements in research continue,” she explains. The future HPA releases new data every year and the next update is scheduled for the end of October. Each year, Lindskog and her colleagues incorporate additional data types. “We've recently added information on protein structure and interactions, sourced from external resources. We aim for the HPA to serve as the primary resource for protein information.” HPA also utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) for its data analysis, predictive modeling, and image analysis to examine protein data from antibody-based images, allowing for comprehensive image evaluation. “This approach offers a broader overview of the data than traditional methods, enabling us to uncover new patterns and insights,” says Lindskog. Cecilia Lindskog, Head of the the tissuebased efforts of the HPA, and Associate Professor, Uppsala University For the future, Cecilia hopes that the Human Protein Atlas will be able to continue to help scientists identify proteins exhibiting specific patterns in certain cells and tissues that may indicate disease. “This information allows us to develop measurement methods and create diagnostic tools or new treatment approaches for specific diseases,” she says. “Identifying proteins can serve us as future diagnostic tools or be targets for future drugs, and we can understand how a drug works in the human body. If you have a drug designed to work on a certain protein, it’s very important to know where that protein is in the human body because that can tell you the potential side effects of the drug.” NLS FACTS THE HUMAN PROTEIN ATLAS The HPA is a Swedish-based program with the aim to map all the human proteins in cells, tissues, and organs using an integration of various omics technologies. The atlas consists of eight separate resources; tissue, brain, single cell, subcellular, cancer, blood, cell line, and structure and interaction. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 75 PHOTO DAVID NAYLOR