Develop standard notation for proteoforms

A major challenge in a new field like top-down proteomics, is to have a consistent and coherent method for describing the species being characterized.   The Consortium has launched this Sub-Committee to develop rules for writing a fully characterized proteoform.  This nomenclature is intended to be both machine and human readable, and to be sufficiently flexible to meet current and foreseeable needs.

The Committee will provide an unambiguous notation for writing an individual proteoform.  The notation needs have the following aspects:

  • Be Human readable. Suitable for display in written document or presentation.
  • Be Machine parsable.
  • Contain the complete amino acid sequence of the observed proteoform
  • Specify the location and type of each modification.

The Committee has completed its work and has published its findings.