Resolving the spatial distribution of the human proteome at a subcellular level can greatly increase our understanding of human biology and disease. Here we present a comprehensive image-based map of subcellular protein distribution, the Cell Atlas, built by integrating transcriptomics and antibody-based immunofluorescence microscopy with validation by mass spectrometry. Mapping the in situ localization of 12,003 human proteins at a single-cell level to 30 subcellular structures enabled the definition of the proteomes of 13 major organelles. Exploration of the proteomes revealed single-cell variations in abundance or spatial distribution and localization of about half of the proteins to multiple compartments. This subcellular map can be used to refine existing protein-protein interaction networks and provides an important resource to deconvolute the highly complex architecture of the human cell.

The proteins secreted by human cells (collectively referred to as the secretome) are important not only for the basic understanding of human biology but also for the identification of potential targets for future diagnostics and therapies. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of proteins predicted to be secreted in human cells, which provides information about their final localization in the human body, including the proteins actively secreted to peripheral blood. The analysis suggests that a large number of the proteins of the secretome are not secreted out of the cell, but instead are retained intracellularly, whereas another large group of proteins were identified that are predicted to be retained locally at the tissue of expression and not secreted into the blood. Proteins detected in the human blood by mass spectrometry–based proteomics and antibody-based immunoassays are also presented with estimates of their concentrations in the blood. The results are presented in an updated version 19 of the Human Protein Atlas in which each gene encoding a secretome protein is annotated to provide an open-access knowledge resource of the human secretome, including body-wide expression data, spatial localization data down to the single-cell and subcellular levels, and data about the presence of proteins that are detectable in the blood.

Imaging techniques such as immunofluorescence (IF) and the expression of fluorescent protein (FP) fusions are widely used to investigate the subcellular distribution of proteins. Here we report a systematic analysis of >500 human proteins comparing the localizations obtained in live versus fixed cells using FPs and IF, respectively. We identify systematic discrepancies between IF and FPs as well as between FP tagging at the N and C termini. The analysis shows that for 80% of the proteins, IF and FPs yield the same subcellular distribution, and the locations of 250 previously unlocalized proteins were determined by the overlap between the two methods. Approximately 60% of proteins localize to multiple organelles for both methods, indicating a complex subcellular protein organization. These results show that both IF and FP tagging are reliable techniques and demonstrate the usefulness of an integrative approach for a complete investigation of the subcellular human proteome.