#Exploring the Human Protein Atlas
http://www.proteinatlas.org
Antibodies raised against most human proteins.
Rigorous purification protocol.
Used to Stain human tissues and cells.
Key fact: Provides independent validation of cellular location and tissue distribution using commercial (or home produced) antibodies.
Example proteins to explore the Atlas
1. A-kinase anchoring proteins are scaffolds for the PKA kinase.
- AKAP1
- AKAP4
- AKAP8
- AKAP12
###Questions
- Are these AKAPs all found in the same cell compartments and subcellular locations?
- What happens when you toggle the channels?
- Are these AKAPs found in all tissues?
- Are they highly expressed in cancer cells?
- Is there a PKA kinase cascade?
1. c-Myc transcription factor
###Questions
- Do all antibodies perform similarly? (Click for primary data for a summary).
- In the cerebral cortex are all cell types stained?
- Would we expect that for Myc?
- Which cells are stained in the placenta?
- Which cell compartments have Myc?
3. CTNNB1 – the key Wnt signalling transcription factor beta catenin
###Questions
- Which tissues don’t express any beta catenin?
- Which cancers don’t express any beta catenin?
- Is most of the beta catenin staining in the nucleus?
4. FGF13 - fibroblast growth factor 13
###Questions
- Is FGF13 strongly expressed in most cancer cells?
- Are there any tissues that don’t stain for FGF13?
- Growth factors are secreted and their receptors are on the cell surface: Which cellular compartments contain FGF13?
- Which cellular compartments in bronchial tissue contain FGF13?
5. Try your own favourite proteins!
Let us know if the images make sense to you…
