New analysis method for mapping proteins shared in an open database

A team of researchers at Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab have developed a new analysis method to map the localization of proteins in cells, information which they have shared in an open database accessible to researchers around the world. The study, published in Molecular Cell, was led by Professor Janne Lehtiö, SciLifeLab researcher and Platform Scientific Director for the SciLifeLab site of Chemical Proteomics & Proteogenomics.

Every cell in the body is made up of thousands of different proteins, all of which have a given function and location, and the processes of all proteins are quite complex. And while the subcellular localization is a main determinant of protein function, a global view of cellular proteome organization remains relatively unexplored.

By using mass spectrometry, the researchers developed their own method of analysis, which they used to map the subcellular localization of more than 12 000 proteins across several cell lines. They also compiled the information in an open database that can be used by researchers all over the world looking for information on proteins whose function is still unknown.

“The method we have developed can also be used to study whether certain diseases, such as cancer, are caused by dislocated proteins that disturb normal cell functions. It is also possible to study how cell proteins move from one location to another when the cell’s external milieu changes,” says Professor Janne Lehtiö, in charge of the study, in a press release from Karolinska Institutet.

More information: paper in Molecular Cell, press release from Karolinska Institutet.