Mapping the proteome

Proteomics Proteins function in the context of their environment, so an understanding of cellular processes requires a knowledge of protein localization. Thul et al. used immunofluorescence microscopy to map 12,003 human proteins at a single-cell level into 30 cellular compartments and substructures (see the Perspective by Horwitz and Johnson). They validated their results by mass spectroscopy and used them to model and refine protein-protein interaction networks. The cellular proteome is highly spatiotemporally regulated. Many proteins localize to multiple compartments, and many show cell-to-cell variation in their expression patterns. Presented as an interactive database called the Cell Atlas, this work provides an important resource for ongoing efforts to understand human biology. Science , this issue p. [eaal3321][1]; see also p. [806][2] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aal3321 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aan5955