Defining the neuroblastoma proteome

A major complication in the realm of pediatric cancer research has been the fact that RNA levels do not always correspond to protein levels. Moreover, while RNA can be easily measured, even from a single cell, protein estimates are much less reliable and require a far greater sample pool. To better quantify average protein expression levels in neuroblastoma, we are quantifying the whole proteomes of 39 commonly used human-derived neuroblastoma cell lines using mass spectrometry.  The transcriptome of these 39 cell lines has already beed assessed using RNA sequencing (Transcriptomic profiling of 39 commonly-used neuroblastoma cell lines. Harenza JL, et al., Sci Data. 2017 Mar 28;4:170033).  These resources will inform future experiments and enhance our understanding of the complex relationship between transcription and translation in this important childhood cancer.