The world's largest proteomics study launched by UK Biobank

UK Biobank today announced the start of the world's most comprehensive study of the proteins circulating in our bodies, transforming the study of disease and its treatment. This unprecedented project will collect 600,000 samples from each of the 500,000 UK Biobank participants, including 100,000 second samples taken from these volunteers, up to 15 years later. We aim to measure up to 5,400 proteins. This will allow researchers to explore the first database of its kind detailing how changes in an individual's protein levels from midlife to late life affect disease. The study will begin by analyzing an initial 300,000 samples, including first samples from 250,000 UK Biobank volunteers and 50,000 second samples taken in follow-up assessments. .

By measuring the abundance of thousands of proteins circulating in the blood, researchers can investigate their potential role in different types of diseases that occur in middle and later life. This emerging field of research, known as population proteomics, is demonstrating great potential in diagnosis and treatment.

In October 2023, a pilot project published data on nearly 3,000 circulating proteins from 54,000 UK Biobank participants. The pilot is already the largest study of its kind in the world, leading to research identifying more than 14,000 associations between common genetic variants and changes in protein levels, more than 80% of which were previously unknown. It wasn't.

The study, published in Nature1, has already been cited more than 400 times and laid the foundation for scientists to better understand how and why diseases develop. So far, research using the data has led to advances in disease prediction2,3 and the development of future targeted treatments for breast cancer,4 cardiovascular disease,5 Parkinson's disease,6 and other brain diseases.7 Masu.

The new study, which aims to increase this unique dataset tenfold, is being funded by a consortium of 14 leading biopharmaceutical companies known as the UK Biobank Pharma Proteomics Project.

For the first time at this scale, researchers will be able to detect the exact cause of disease by comparing how protein levels change from middle to late life in large populations. Proteomics data are already paving the way to better diagnostics for cancer, autoimmunity, and dementia, and research into this truly exciting protein will greatly speed up drug discovery and help public health everywhere. This will lead to significant improvements in care. ”

Professor Sir Rory Collins, Principal Investigator and Chief Executive Officer, UK Biobank

UK Biobank's proteomics datasets enable researchers to:

• Simultaneously examine proteomics and genetic data from 500,000 people. In November 2023, the UK Biobank announced the results of sequencing the entire genomes of 500,000 participants. Adding proteomics data will allow researchers to combine these vast datasets and provide a more detailed picture of the biological processes involved in disease progression. This could facilitate the development of personalized treatments.

• Find out how and why protein levels change over time. Half a million participants provided a blood sample to UK Biobank at the time of participation, with 100,000 of these providing a second sample up to 15 years later. Researchers can now see how protein levels change from mid- to late-life, improving our understanding of age-related changes in healthy people and understanding how diseases develop. can be revealed. This will further accelerate research into diagnostic and prognostic markers.

• Uniquely combine proteomics data with imaging data. Around 100,000 UK Biobank participants have undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of their brains, hearts and bodies, providing researchers with detailed scans. Overlaying these different types of data to investigate human health yields a truly amazing and detailed understanding of disease mechanisms.

• It paves the way for developing AI models. Already, machine learning tools can predict future diseases years before diagnosis, potentially shaping early intervention. The depth and breadth of proteomics data held within the UK Biobank has the potential to enable machine learning to accurately subtype diseases, potentially informing what treatment to provide at diagnosis. .

Professor Naomi Allen, UK Biobank Principal Scientist, said:

“Proteomics provides an incredibly detailed snapshot of health. This new frontier of science reveals how genetics and external factors such as diet, exercise, and climate interact, leading to disease control. Accurately identify the main cause, Helps identify drug targets. Identification of proteins that can help diagnose diseases including multiple sclerosis9 and people at high risk of developing dementia10 and cancer11 years before clinical diagnosis. This has led to important scientific discoveries, including helping to identify

“More than 19,000 researchers around the world use UK Biobank data. By adding proteomics data to everything else we have, scientists can diagnose life-changing diseases. and can quickly make discoveries that can help with treatment.”

It will take about a year to measure protein levels in 300,000 participant samples. Proteomics data will be released in stages from 2026 and will be made available to UK Biobank-approved researchers12, with the full dataset expected to be added to the UK Biobank research analysis platform by 2027 is. During this time, additional funding will be sought to analyze the samples. Taken from all remaining UK Biobank volunteers (an additional 250,000 participants, including a second sample from a further 50,000).

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Dr. Chris Whelan, Director of Neuroscience, Data Science and Digital Health and Pharmaproteomics Project Lead for Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine.

“The UK Biobank proteomics dataset has the potential to enable even more powerful data. biomarker discoveries, more accurate disease predictions, and more successful drug development. By analyzing samples from two time points in the same volunteer, it is possible to examine how protein levels change over time, across hundreds of health and disease states, on an unprecedented scale It will be.

“This will be one of the largest biopharmaceutical research collaborations in the world and underlines the growing importance of proteomics as a drug discovery tool. I can't wait to investigate and see if we can pinpoint disease progression and the molecular drivers of disease subtypes and aging. ”

In accordance with its access policy, members of this industry consortium will have exclusive access for a short period (9 months) before the data is made available to UK Biobank's approved researchers. All results collected will be returned to UK Biobank, further enhancing the ground-breaking health dataset that is accessible to approved researchers around the world.

Protein detection and sequencing will be completed by the Regeneron Genetics Center® using Thermo Fisher Scientific's Olink™ Explore HT proteomics platform and Ultima Genomics13's Ultima UG 100™ sequencer. Both are high-throughput technologies that enable large-scale applications.