New Atlas of Plasma Proteins Unlocks Insights into Health and Disease

A groundbreaking study has provided the most comprehensive proteome profiles to date, offering an in-depth atlas of over 2,900 plasma proteins linked to a wide range of diseases and health traits. Drawing on data from 53,026 individuals in the UK Biobank (with a median follow-up of 14.8 years), this research uncovers vital connections between proteins and 406 prevalent and 660 incident diseases, along with 986 health-related traits.

The newly published proteome atlas reveals an astonishing 168,100 protein-disease associations and 554,488 protein-trait associations. Notably, more than 650 proteins are shared across at least 50 diseases, while over 1,000 proteins exhibit distinct sex and age variations. The study also demonstrates that many proteins show great promise in discriminating between diseases, with an area under the curve (AUC) greater than 0.80 for 183 diseases.

In addition, integrating protein quantitative trait locus (pQTL) data has led to the identification of 474 causal proteins, offering 37 potential drug-repurposing opportunities and 26 promising therapeutic targets with favorable safety profiles. These findings highlight the vast potential of proteins in disease understanding and treatment.

The data, now available through an open-access portal (https://proteome-phenome-atlas.com/), is set to significantly enhance our understanding of disease mechanisms and accelerate the development of biomarkers, predictive models, and therapeutic targets. This resource is poised to make a major impact on the future of precision medicine, advancing the search for targeted treatments and better health outcomes.

SOURCE: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)01268-6 

CREDITS: CELL PRESS