Ambitious plans are underway for an internationally coordinated Human Proteome Project, as discussed in this month’s Editorial.
The proteomics field has certainly had its share of ups and downs. Mass spectrometry, the key technology used for proteome analysis, has been long criticized as being an irreproducible technique. In a Commentary this month, six leaders in the field argue that the technology has greatly matured over the past decade and when it is properly applied, it is highly reproducible. The technology is also getting more and more sensitive; mass spectrometry has been used to detect large portions of the proteome of several cell types.
However, the human proteome is enormously complex, when one considers all the diverse tissues, fluids and cell types present, and all the possible protein post-translational modifications and alternative splicings. Whether it is realistic to carry out a Human Proteome Project at all and what the scope of the project should look like are questions that the proteomics field does not agree on. The anticipated cost and scale of such a project would be on the order of the Human Genome Project, so it is important for the field to come to a consensus on these issues.
What do you think about the proposed Human Proteome Project?
Report this comment
The problem with this project is that, in contrast to the human genome, it is not a finite project. THE Human Proteome does not exist. The collection of expressed proteins, their relative ratios, post-translational modifications, splice variants, differs between cell types, tissues, biological species, developmental stage, health/disease status, etc. etc. etc. The proteome changes when a cell is isolated from its natural context and cultured in a flask. The objectives of a Human Proteome project should be very narrowly defined, otherwise it is a project without end.
Report this comment
ALREADY WE ARE TRYING TO WORK COMPUTATIONALLY IN ANALYSING ALL HUMAN PROTEIN WITH RESPECT TO SOME OF FEATURES SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE METHODOLOGY OF THIS PROJECT
Report this comment
I agree with what Aarnoud van der Spoel’s comments. For the Human Proteome Project, I think this is definitely a good project, but we could start at the blood proteome first. If we can figure out the health/disease status of the object, that will be very helpful. Although there are certain criteria for blood work, the criteria is far from enough.
Report this comment
the Human proteome is in my opinion primarily a database/repository challenge. To take care of and harness high quality proteomics data. I disagree with the notion that blood would be a good starting point as for decades, the blood proteomics has turned out zero viable disease markers. Spending 100’s of more millions (dollars) will unlikely yield anything worth printing. In fact, I think it is blood proteomics that contributes to give proteomics a bad rap. Lots of effort, nothing to show. Careful tissue-based quantitative mass spec coupled with targeted proteomics, antibody-based localization and interactome analysis is more likely to yield the necessary insights to understand disease and to provide a necessary foundation for human biology and human health for future generations