< No: 25 >
2017


The Subcellular Atlas

The Subcellular Atlas (also called the HPA Cell Atlas) provides high-resolution insights into the spatial distribution of proteins within cells. The protein expression data was derived from antibody-based profiling using immunofluorescence confocal microscopy. The subcellular distribution of over 12,000 proteins was classified into 30 different organelles and cellular structures. A panel of 64 cell lines was also characterized using transcriptomics. A key finding was that half of all proteins localize to multiple cellular compartments.

Key publication

Other selected publications

  • Barbe L et al., Toward a confocal subcellular atlas of the human proteome. Mol Cell Proteomics. (2008)
    PubMed: 18029348 DOI: 10.1074/mcp.M700325-MCP200

  • Stadler C et al., Immunofluorescence and fluorescent-protein tagging show high correlation for protein localization in mammalian cells. Nat Methods. 2013 Apr;10(4):315-23 (2013)
    PubMed: 23435261 DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2377

  • Stadler C et al., A single fixation protocol for proteome-wide immunofluorescence localization studies. J Proteomics. (2010)
    PubMed: 19896565 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2009.10.012



Figure legend: The subcellular locations of 12,003 proteins were determined by immunocytochemistry [also denoted as immunofluorescence (ICC-IF)] and confocal microscopy in cell lines of various origins. Adapted from Thul et al. (2017).


Key facts

  • The subcellular locations of over 12,000 proteins were determined using immunofluorescence and high-resolution confocal microscopy
  • The Subcellular Atlas resolves the spatial distribution of the human proteome at a subcellular level
  • Half of all proteins localize to multiple compartments in the cell