Breaking News! Eighteen academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, along with an international team of scientists from multiple countries, publish a comprehensive introduction to the π-Hub Human Proteome Navigator initiative in Nature.

On December 11, 2024, Academician Fuchu He from the State Key Laboratory of Proteomics and Beijing Proteome Research Center, together with Professor Ruedi Aebersold from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, co-authored a forward-looking paper titled “π-HuB: the proteomic navigator of the human body” in Nature, involving nearly one hundred international scientists. This article comprehensively outlines the π-HuB (Human Proteome Navigator) initiative’s three core objectives, six foundational pillars, and five major challenges, concluding with a vision for the primary achievements expected during the first decade of the π-HuB project. Proteomics and the π-HuB Initiative The Human Genome Project (HGP) produced a detailed map of the human genome and identified approximately 20,300 human protein-coding genes. This landmark effort demonstrated the transformative power of large-scale, data-driven ‘omics’ projects in biomedical research and catalyzed the emergence of genomics-driven precision medicine. However, human tissues/organs and cells frequently undergo extensive, reversible or irreversible changes in response to environmental fluctuations—meaning cellular and organismal complexity cannot be predicted solely from genomic information. Proteins, as fundamental functional elements of cellular machinery, participate in virtually all biological processes within living organisms. Existing research has confirmed that proteins are critical drivers of disease onset and progression—and serve as the primary molecular targets for most therapeutic drugs. Thus, proteomics offers not a static view like genomics, but dynamic insights into human physiology and adaptability to environmental change. In 2001—coinciding with the publication of the human genome sequence—a group of proteomics researchers founded the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO). In September 2010, HUPO launched the Human Proteome Project (HPP), aiming to provide high-quality mass spectrometry-based evidence for the expression of all human protein-coding genes. A decade later, in 2020, the HUPO HPP consortium published the first high-stringency human proteome map, covering 90.4% of the canonical human proteome—a milestone comparable in impact to the HGP’s decade-long achievement. By 2023, the research team had detected 18,397 out of 19,750 canonical human proteins (93%) and generated reference spectral libraries enabling highly specific targeted mass spectrometry measurements—covering over 99% of annotated human proteins. As early as 2003, China launched its first organ-focused proteomics initiative—the Human Liver Proteome Project—becoming a pioneer of the HPP. Subsequently, proteomic analyses of increasingly more disease-relevant organs and tissues followed; yet the full complexity of the human proteome remains to be deeply explored. In 2020, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China funded a collaborative project involving approximately 40 global proteomics research teams, which catalyzed the proposal of the “Human Proteome Navigator (π-HuB)” initiative.

US HUPO 2026 Update | Luomi’s Proteonano Technology Emerges as Mainstream—Data Outperforms German Competitors Across the Board

Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) is inherently low in protein concentration and highly complex in background composition—making it a classic high-challenge sample. During testing on the Pro 2 platform, the team compared precipitation methods, antibody-depletion approaches, and multiple commercial reagent kits—including the Proteonano Plasma Enrichment Kit. According to the presented data, Proteonano™ excelled across several key metrics: ・Identified 5,738 proteins ・Detected the highest number of unique proteins ・Delivered stable reproducibility, with well-controlled coefficients of variation (CV) The Venn diagram clearly shows Nanomics’ method significantly outperforming others—especially in the number of unique proteins identified. This indicates that, while effectively reducing interference from high-abundance proteins, Proteonano actively captures substantially more low-abundance proteins. Beyond simply increasing total protein identifications, what matters more is acquiring *new information* in complex backgrounds—while maintaining data stability. This distinction is clearly evident in the comparative data. From discussions at the conference, it became apparent that the field’s focus is shifting away from raw numbers toward: ・Whether the method expands information dimensions in complex samples ・Whether it delivers robust reproducibility ・Whether it supports scalable, high-throughput application In this BALF comparison, Proteonano achieved an excellent balance between proteome coverage and analytical stability. 2. Xenotransplantation: Deciphering Cross-Species Protein Dynamics Another study published in *Nature* investigated long-term immune changes following pig-to-human organ transplantation. Over a 61-day follow-up period, the study detected over 7,000 plasma proteins and successfully distinguished dynamic changes between porcine- and human-derived proteins in plasma. From a methodological standpoint, achieving species-specific protein identification in such highly complex backgrounds fundamentally relies on enhanced protein enrichment and broader proteome coverage capabilities. Such work serves primarily to validate the clinical utility of liquid-phase proteomics in real-world settings. 3. Discovery: Mass Spectrometry Stability in Large Cohorts Discovery Life Sciences presented comparative platform data between Seer + MS and Olink Explore HT.

HUPO 2026: Provocative Claim Sparks Proteomics Debate

2 days ago

During the HUPO 2026 conference, Human Proteome Organization treasurer Bernd Wollscheid claimed "proteins don't exist." This prompted immediate debate among leaders regarding the state of proteomics research.

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2026-10-06

HUPO 2026: Provocative Claim Sparks Proteomics Debate

HUPO 2026: Provocative Claim Sparks Proteomics Debate

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