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The version 23 of the Human Protein Atlas is based on an updated genome assembly and features a new Interaction section

June 19, 2023

The Human Protein Atlas consortium has today launched the version 23 of the open access knowledge resource covering human protein profiles in cells, tissues, organs and blood (www.proteinatlas.org). A new Interaction section is introduced containing data for human protein-protein interaction networks that adds new aspects in terms of protein function. In addition, all five million web pages in the resource have been updated based on a new genome assembly (Ensembl v109), thus reflecting the new consensus genome containing 20,162 protein-coding genes.

The Human Protein Atlas consortium has today launched the version 23 of the open access knowledge resource covering human protein profiles in cells, tissues, organs and blood (www.proteinatlas.org). A new Interaction section is introduced containing data for human protein-protein interaction networks that adds new aspects in terms of protein function. In addition, all five million web pages in the resource have been updated based on a new genome assembly (Ensembl v109), thus reflecting the new consensus genome containing 20,162 protein-coding genes.

The new Interaction section presents protein-protein interaction networks for more than 11,000 genes together with metabolic maps for close to 3,000 genes. The networks presented are extendable and interactive and can be integrated with other Human Protein Atlas data to highlight protein network members according to custom made filters or pre-selected features such as subcellular location or tissue specificity.

The revised Tissue section of the Atlas has been extended with immunofluorescent-based multiplex bioimages to map 742 proteins in testis and kidney.to specific cell types and cell states using co-expression analysis. The Tissue section contains immunohistochemistry-based protein expression profiles for 44 normal tissues for >80% of the human genes, integrated with mRNA expression data from 54 tissues derived from deep sequencing of mRNA.

The Brain section now has protein expression data from over 200 micro dissected human brain regions and this data has been used to cluster proteins according to their expression across different brain regions. The clustering of 17,832 genes expressed in brain tissues resulted in 56 expression clusters, which have been manually annotated. This new tool provides an overview of proteins with similar distribution, function and specificity in the human brain.

A large amount of data has also been added to the other sections. This includes the integration of HPA data with 3-D structures from the AI-based AlphaFold program. In addition, the Cell Line section now feature data from a total of 1,206 cell lines, including an expansion of 151 cell lines not previously described.

"We are excited to launch this new version of the open access Human Protein Atlas with an updated genome assembly and a new section for protein-protein interactions. We are confident that this will add valuable information for researchers interested in human biology and disease", says Mathias Uhlén, Director of the Human Protein Atlas consortium. The work was funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
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AI-based efforts facilitate the mapping of the human building-blocks

December 7, 2022

A new version of the open access Human Protein Atlas has been launched (version 22). Two new sections are introduced, both relying heavily on AI-based prediction modelling and machine learning. First, a new Human Disease Blood Atlas is launched using next generation blood profiling, initially aimed to facilitate research in the field of Cancer Prediction Medicine. Secondly, a new Structure resource section is launched using an AI-based prediction model (AlphaFold), to show the 3D structures for all human proteins. In addition, a major update of the Tissue Atlas section is released with detailed multiplex spatial profiling of proteins specific for single cell types in human testis or kidney. More data is also provided on single cell analysis of tissues and organs as well as data from an extensive catalogue of human cell lines.

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New version 21 of the Human Protein Atlas

November 18, 2021

A new version 21 of the open access Human Protein Atlas has been launched. A lot of new data and content have been added and the resource now includes 10 separate sections exploring the human proteins from different angels. All data has been updated on the approximately 15 million individual web pages.

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A single cell type map of human tissues.

July 28, 2021

In a study published today in the US journal Science Advances, a single cell type map of human tissues is presented. An open access atlas has been launched with more than 250,000 interactive plots to allow researchers to explore the expression in individual single cell types for all protein-coding genes in these tissues.
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Towards a Cell Cycle Atlas

February 24, 2021

Today researchers within the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) publish a study of single-cell RNA and protein expression in relation to cell cycle progression in the journal of Nature. At the same time, the dataset is made publicly available as an integrated part of the Cell Atlas, providing a new resource for researchers around the globe to explore in the quest to further understand the human cell cycle and proliferative diseases such as cancer.
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A 20-year journey with the Human Protein Atlas

November 19, 2020

 20 years ago, the Human Protein Atlas initiative started and to celebrate this event, the journal Science has today published a booklet "The Human Protein Atlas - a 20-year journey into the body".
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New findings on enzymes with an important role for SARS-CoV-2 infection

August 4, 2020

Researchers within the Human Protein Atlas have described the presence of the enzyme ACE2 in the entire human body, which is suggested to be the key protein used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus for host cell entry and development of the disease COVID-19. In contrast to previous studies, the study shows that none or only very low levels of ACE2 protein is present in the normal respiratory system.
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HPA in the fight against Covid-19

April 3, 2020

The Human Protein Atlas (HPA) consortium is engaged in the corona epidemic in various ways to aid in the fight against the health consequences of this pandemic outbreak.
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What is the role of human protein ACE2 for SARS-CoV-2 infection of the human lung?

April 3, 2020

Today, an article was published in bioRxiv (Hikmet et al) describing the presence in the human body of the enzyme Angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), suggested to be the target for coronavirus attachment to the surface of human cells. The results raise questions regarding the role of ACE2 for infection of human lungs and highlights the need to further explore the route of transmission during SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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An atlas of human metabolism

March 24, 2020

Published today in the journal Science Signaling, Metabolic Atlas (metabolicatlas.org) enables exploration of the most extensive mapping of human metabolism to date. Biochemical information and connectivity for thousands of reactions, compounds, and genes comprising human metabolism is presented with over 150 manually curated 2D maps and automatically generated 3D networks.
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One step closer to understanding the human brain

March 6, 2020

Published today in the journal Science, the Brain Atlas resource is the latest database to be released by the Human Protein Atlas program, which is based at the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab).

The brain is the most complex organ of our body both in structure and function, and a dedicated brain atlas has therefore been created combining data from the human brain with corresponding information about the brain of pig and mouse.


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Immune cell map arms researchers with new tool to fight deadly diseases

December 19, 2019

A first-ever map of the human body's immune cells has been created by scientists in Sweden, providing medical research with a detailed description of the proteins in human blood. The open-access database offers medical researchers an unprecedented resource in the search for treatments for diseases.
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Horizon Discovery partners with the Human Protein Atlas

December 3, 2019

Today it is announced that Horizon Discovery and the Human Protein Atlas have entered into partnership. The HPA Cell Atlas program will integrate Horizon's HAP1 cell line and has selected Horizon's CRISPR-edited knockout cell models to further expand the knowledge available in the Cell Atlas program.
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The Human Secretome defined - a novel map of all proteins actively secreted to blood

November 26, 2019

Today, a novel map of all proteins secreted to human blood is described. The paper by Uhlen et al. entitled "The Human Secretome" is published in the journal Science Signaling and provides a first comprehensive annotation of all proteins secreted by the human cells. In addition, an analysis of the concentrations of the proteins circulating in the human blood is described. This map provides a unique resource to study human biology and diseases, in particular for immune-based research and efforts to develop new, effective treatments in oncology and autoimmune diseases.
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The Human Blood Atlas launched - a resource for exploration of blood cells and proteins

September 5, 2019

A new Blood Atlas has been launched, as part of the open access Human Protein Atlas, in which the proteins in human blood cell types are described together with a comprehensive analysis of all proteins predicted to be secreted from human cells ("the secretome"). The new atlas provides a unique resource for the study of human biology and diseases, in particular for immune-based research and efforts to develop new, effective treatments in oncology and autoimmune diseases.
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A new Brain Atlas launched to allow the exploration of proteins in the different regions of the brain

September 5, 2019

Today, as part of the Human Protein Atlas program, a new Brain Atlas is launched showing for the first time an integrated view of the proteins located to the different regions of the human, mouse and pig brain. The regional expression in these three mammalian brains have been profiled and the analysis includes 1,710 human brain samples, 119 pig brain samples and 67 mouse brain samples. The new database provides many insights of biological relevance for human brain biology and disease.
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A new Metabolic Atlas launched to explore human metabolism

September 5, 2019

A new Metabolic Atlas has been launched as part of the open access Human Protein Atlas program (www.proteinatlas.org/metabolic), allowing researchers to explore the expression of biochemical pathways across human tissues. The new resource leverages the most extensive mapping of human metabolism to date, with biochemical information and connectivity for more than 13,000 reactions, 4,000 unique compounds, and 3,500 genes.
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New version of the Human Protein Atlas launched with a focus on validation of antibodies

December 1, 2017

A new version of the Human Protein Atlas is launched today implementing the strategy for enhanced validation of antibodies suggested by the International Working Group for Antibody Validation (IWGAV). More than 10,540 antibodies directed to a total of 6,787 human protein targets have passed the criteria of enhanced validation.
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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative teams up with Swedish researchers to map all cells in human body

October 17, 2017

The Human Protein Atlas and Cell Atlas projects at KTH Royal Institute of Technology's Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab) are teaming up with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to strengthen research in cell biology and proteomics.
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New Pathology Atlas maps the genes involved in cancer to accelerate progress in personalized cancer medicine

August 17, 2017

A new Pathology Atlas is launched today with an analysis of all human genes in all major cancers showing the consequence of their corresponding protein levels for overall patient survival. The difference in expression patterns of individual cancers observed in the study strongly reinforces the need for personalized cancer treatment based on precision medicine. In addition, the systems level approach used to construct the Pathology Atlas demonstrates the power of "big data" to change how medical research is performed.
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The Human Protein Atlas selected as European core resource in life science by ELIXIR

July 25, 2017

Today, the organization ELIXIR selected the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) as a European core resource in life science. HPA was selected for its fundamental importance to the wider life-science community and as an important international resource of biological data. The Human Protein Atlas contains information for a large majority of all human protein-coding genes, including a Tissue Atlas showing the location of the proteins in human tissues and organs and a Cell Atlas showing the subcellular location in human cells at the single cell level.
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The Human Cell Atlas selected as one of ten emerging technologies to make a change to society

June 27, 2017

This week, Scientific American announced ten emerging technologies with innovations that are on the verge of changing society. One of the technologies selected was the Human Cell Atlas, which aims to integrate research exploring the building-blocks of human cells using new emerging technologies. One of the projects underlying the Human Cell Atlas is the Human Protein Atlas with the ultimate aim to provide a spatial map of all human proteins using a combination of "big data technologies".
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The first comprehensive map of the subcellular localization of human proteins reveals new insights in human biology

May 11, 2017

The first analysis of how proteins are arranged in a cell was published today in Science, revealing that a large portion of human proteins can be found in more than one location in a given cell.
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HPA 16 - The Cell Atlas Launched At 2016 ASCB Meeting

December 4, 2016

After the completion of the human genome in 2001, another major milestone was reached with the launch of the Cell Atlas at the 2016 American Society of Cell Biology Meeting. An open-access interactive database with unparalleled high-resolution images, the Cell Atlas visualizes for the first time the location of over 12,000 proteins in cells opening the way to "spatial proteomics", an exciting new discipline predicted to lead to a fundamental increase in our understanding of human health and disease.
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Important link between genomics and proteomics

October 26, 2016

Several previous reports have concluded that RNA levels cannot be used to predict protein levels. However, in a new study from KTH Royal Institute of Technology published in the journal Molecular Systems Biology, scientists show that protein levels can be predicted from RNA levels if a gene-specific RNA-to-protein factor is used.
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HPA 15 - New version of the human proteins atlas with extensive transcriptomics data

April 11, 2016

Today, the Human Protein Atlas consortium launched version 15 of the database including extensive transcriptomics data and a new display view to allow comparisons of human tissue profiles on both the RNA and protein level. The launch is accompanied with an article in Molecular Systems Biology describing transcriptome resources with a focus on the comparison between the datasets generated from the Broad Institute, Boston, US (GTEx) and the Human Protein Atlas consortium at Science for Life Laboratory, Sweden.
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HPA 14 - New version of the human proteins atlas

October 16, 2015

The Human Protein Atlas today launched a new version of the database. The major new additions to version 14 are a new Mouse Brain Atlas and a new approach for antibody validation.
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HPA 13 - Launch of the tissue-based map of the human proteins

November 6, 2014

A decade after the completion of the human genome, the Human Protein Atlas program today launched a tissue-based atlas covering the protein complement of the human genome. Based on 13 million annotated images, an interactive database has been created to show the distribution of proteins in all major tissues and organs in the human body.
Press release broadcasted live on Nov 6, 2014 at 3 p.m. CET
Press release (PDF)

Press material



The human blood - poster


The human brain - poster


The human cell - poster


The human proteome - poster


The human transcriptome - poster


How to target validate your antibody - poster


The use of antibodies - poster


The Human Protein Atlas - logo



To request a print version of the poster please contact us at contact@proteinatlas.org.