CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Consortium for Top-Down Proteomics today announced the launch of the Human Proteoform Project, with the goal to elucidate the complete set of diverse proteoforms produced from the ~20,000 genes encoded in the human genome. Because of genetic variation, alternative splicing, and post-translational modifications, proteins are changed to various forms or proteoforms, and this proteoform-specific information is critical to understanding human disease and to accelerate the development of more precise diagnostics and therapeutics.
This large undertaking will proceed along two pathways, with the first being a cell-based approach where all proteoforms at a detectable level will be characterized and stored in the publicly available Human Proteoform Atlas. The second path is a gene-based approach for targeted proteoform discovery where reagents will be developed to enrich and then characterize specific proteoform families.
“As in the Human Genome Project, the Human Proteoform Project is very challenging and will drive the creation of new, innovative technologies.” Says Lloyd Smith, Board Member of the Consortium and W. L. Hubbell and Hall-Fischer Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin. “Many of the novel approaches that will be needed for this project do not yet exist, but the requirements will become clear as we progress.”
“With our global collaborators we are excited to bring about the next generation of proteomics,” says Neil Kelleher, President of the Consortium and Professor at Northwestern University Department of Molecular Biosciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, and Director of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute. “Defining the human proteoforms will allow us to accelerate the pace of biological discovery “
The Consortium for Top-Down Proteomics will serve as the coordinating body for the global groups that are coming together for this endeavor.
The publication, The Human Proteoform Project: Defining the Human Proteome, can be read in the current issue of Science Advances.
About the Consortium for Top-Down Proteomics
The Consortium for Top-Down Proteomics is a 501c3 non-profit organization fostering collaboration, education, and innovative research to accelerate the comprehensive analysis of all human proteoforms, speeding developments in the fields of therapeutics, diagnostics, environment, and energy. It has members from academic institutions, corporations, and government agencies worldwide, and its work is supported by sponsorships from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bruker, SCIEX, Pfizer and Agilent.
