Visual Inventory of Surface Proteins (VISUN)

Every cell type displays a unique combination of molecules on its surface. These molecules control how cells sense and respond to their micro-environment. Because of their accessibility, cell surface molecules, especially proteins and glycans, can be exploited as markers for immunophenotyping and targets for payload delivery among others.

With advancements in proteomic technologies, an increasing number of high quality cell surface proteome datasets have been reported over the past decade. Individual datasets are valuable. However, examining the combinations of molecules present on the surface across cell types can offer a rapid and powerful strategy to identify proteins or combinations or proteins that are ubiquitously expressed among a wide range of cell types, as well as those more restricted to a specific cell type or lineage.

For this purpose, we have generated a catalog of experimentally verified surface proteins, termed the Visual Inventory of Surface Proteins (VISUN (pronounced vision)). We include data generated by mass spectrometry-based studies that employ affinity enrichment of cell surface proteins. Currently, VISUN contains >2500 surface proteins identified across >600 datasets. All data have been processed using Veneer, our standardized workflow for post-search validation, filtering and annotation of cell surface proteins.

VISUN provides a unique opportunity to prioritize targets for next level validation.