The Human Protein Atlas Project
The Swedish Human Protein Atlas (HPA) Project is an academic project initiated 2003 and funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The project is set up to allow for a systematic exploration of the human proteome using Antibody-Based Proteomics. This is accomplished by combining high-throughput generation of affinity-purified polyclonal antibodies with protein profiling in a multitude of tissues and cells assembled in tissue microarrays. The project hosts the Human Protein Atlas portal with expression profiles of human proteins in tissues and cells.
The main sites are located at the AlbaNova University center at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm and at the Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala. Within this project, specific antibodies to human target proteins are produced using a high-throughput method involving the cloning and protein expression of Protein Epitope Signature Tags (PrESTs). The antibodies are subsequently used to study expression profiles in cells and tissues and for functional analysis of the corresponding proteins in a wide range of assay platforms.
The project uses a standardized approach for generating recombinant proteins based on coding sequences identified in the human genome sequence. The approach has been developed with regard to (i) bioinformatics algorithms that allow the identification of coding sequences that are amenable both to recombinant protein expression and the generation of specific antibodies, (ii) a robust E. coli recombinant protein expression system, (iii) systematic antibody production associated with antigen purification of polyclonal sera and, (iv) systematic approaches to utilize these reagents, in particular using tissue arrays.
The main sites are located at the AlbaNova University center at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm and at the Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala. Within this project, specific antibodies to human target proteins are produced using a high-throughput method involving the cloning and protein expression of Protein Epitope Signature Tags (PrESTs). The antibodies are subsequently used to study expression profiles in cells and tissues and for functional analysis of the corresponding proteins in a wide range of assay platforms.
The project uses a standardized approach for generating recombinant proteins based on coding sequences identified in the human genome sequence. The approach has been developed with regard to (i) bioinformatics algorithms that allow the identification of coding sequences that are amenable both to recombinant protein expression and the generation of specific antibodies, (ii) a robust E. coli recombinant protein expression system, (iii) systematic antibody production associated with antigen purification of polyclonal sera and, (iv) systematic approaches to utilize these reagents, in particular using tissue arrays.