Integration of Proteomics Data to cBioPortal

A key step towards the development of effective personalized cancer treatments is the collection of vast stores of patient data on a variety of tumor types, and cBioPortal has taken these efforts by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and provided an accessible visualization tool for biological data discovery. Currently, cBioPortal has a multitude of information on DNA and RNA, but their information on protein levels derives from protein arrays, a technology that has severe limitations relative to mass spectrometry. Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) has performed mass spectrometry on the patient samples for TCGA tumors and it also includes information on post-translational modifications. I propose to integrate this information with the cBioPortal visualization interface. This involves extending their database with protein abundances and PTMs based on the CPTAC data and updating the cBioPortal interface with a new tab for post-translational modifications and updating existing tabs to accommodate the new protein data. By providing this upgrade, a tool that helps both scientists and doctors see personal and population biology at a glance will gain a new dimension.