International collaboration in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine: the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) Plasma Proteome Project.

Figure 1 Scheme showing aims and linkages of the HUPO Plasma Proteome Project. The Human Proteome Organization (HUPO) was founded in 2001 to accelerate the development of the field of proteomics and to stimulate and organize international collaborations in research and education (1). HUPO has launched several major initiatives, of which the Plasma Proteome Project (PPP) is the most salient for clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine (Figure 1). The PPP has three long-term goals: (i) comprehensive analysis of the protein constituents of human plasma and serum; (ii) identification of physiological, pathological and pharmacological sources of variation within individuals over time, leading to validated biomarkers; and (iii) determination of variation across individuals and across populations due to genetic, nutritional, lifestyle and other factors. Blood samples have the special advantages of being highly accessible sources of new human specimens, being available in large, already-existing specimen banks, and capturing proteins secreted or shed by cells in every organ of the body. The expertise of the clinical chemistry/laboratory medicine fields is highly valued. With the power of modern proteomics methods to identify and directly or indirectly quantify large numbers of proteins simultaneously, it is now possible to explore and characterize protein molecular signatures diagnostic of specific diseases and treatment responses (2–5). Hopefully, this work will overcome the recent paucity of new blood tests with high clinical value (6). From a planning process that began with two workshops and then the 1st HUPO World Congress on Proteomics in Versailles in 2002, the Plasma Proteome Project Pilot Phase emerged to address the following technical and scientific questions: