The Swedish Human Protein Atlas project, funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, has been set up to allow for a systematic exploration of the human proteome using Antibody-Based Proteomics. This is accomplished by combining high-throughput generation of affinity-purified antibodies with protein profiling in a multitude of tissues and cells assembled in tissue microarrays. Confocal microscopy analysis using human cell lines is performed for more detailed protein localization. The program hosts the Human Protein Atlas portal with expression profiles of human proteins in tissues and cells.

The main sites are located at AlbaNova and SciLifeLab, KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, the Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden and Lab Surgpath, Mumbai, India. The main objective of the resource centre is to produce specific antibodies to human target proteins using a high-throughput production method involving the cloning and protein expression of Protein Epitope Signature Tags (PrESTs). After purification, the antibodies are used to study expression profiles in cells and tissues and for functional analysis of the corresponding proteins in a wide range of platforms. The Stockholm sites are responsible for generating high-quality antibodies and to perform the immunofluorescence analysis, the Uppsala site is responsible for large-scale protein profiling in tissues and cells using immunohistochemistry and the Mumbai site for the annotation of the immunohistochemistry images. The pathologists and staff at the Pathology Clinic, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden, are greatly acknowledged for all efforts regarding handling and diagnostics of the tissues used in the Human Protein Atlas.