A new Brain Atlas launched


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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 the human brain biology and disease.

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 the human brain biology and disease.

The new open access Brain Atlas allows exploration and comparison of the expression of individual protein-coding genes. Genes with regionally elevated expression in the brain of humans, pig and mouse have been identified and many of these genes have not been previously described in neural cells. Many key genes, coding for neuronal proteins, are differentially expressed in the three species, and this calls for caution when results from animal models are translated to research on the human brain. Many of the genes classified as regionally elevated are not brain elevated from a whole-body perspective, and many of the previously identified "signature genes" for brain specific cell types are here shown to have higher expression in certain peripheral tissues.

The program is a collaboration between researchers in Scandinavia and China with the basis at the Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet. the Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm, Sweden and the BGI research institute in Shenzhen, China. All the data are integrated in an interactive, open access Brain Atlas as part of the Human Protein Atlas (www.proteinatlas.org/brain) that allows for genome-wide exploration of the protein-coding genes expressed across mammalian brain regions and all major tissues and organs.

Press release


Mathias Uhlén