How do I contribute additional contents to the HIP² database?

If you have published articles on healthy (normal) human individual's plasma proteome using mass spectrometry methods, you may send us an email to explore whether your data is suitable for integration into the HIP² database. In general, an experiment will be considered for inclusion if the submission follows the following guideline (under development)

• The healthy human subjects must be those who do not suffer from major diseases or inflammation at the time of blood drawing.
• The plasma sample must be collected and processed according to internal or external standards acceptable to the proteomics research community.
• The sample information and analytical protocol must be well documented and disclosed.
• The experimental results must minimally contain peptide identification and protein identification information.
• Mass spectrometry search software and database information must be provided.
• The data, although at the time of inquiry may be under review, must be in press before the data may be integrated and queryable by HIP² users.
• The contributor must name a contact person with complete contact address for subsequent communication purposes.
• The submitting contributor should be responsible for the correctness and update of the content submitted.

Is there an online tool for such contribution?

As we continue to improve the database, we are beginning to assess the number of content contribution requests in order to allocate future resources properly. Right now, the content contribution is done on an ad hoc basis by our development team.

Is there a proteomics experiment data standard that I should use when contributing the data?

The mass spectrometry informatics community is still in its infancy. Many standards are being proposed and there is none yet for Clinical Proteomics.

While the detailed representation format and data model still remains under development, MIAPE (Minimal Informatics About a Proteomics Experiment) is the closest standard that we recommend. It is being commissioned by the Proteomics Standards Initiative (HUPO-PSI) of the Human Proteome Organization . MIAPE tries to specify a minimal set of information to document a mass spectrometry-based peptide and protein identification and characterization experiment. The initial documentation may be found at the community consultation page of Nature Biotechnology journal or on our web site as a pdf file here.

How do I contact you for further questions?

You may contact us using information in the About Us page.