YCharOS (Antibody Characterization through Open Science)
YCharOS (Antibody Characterization through Open Science)
About this Gateway
About YCharOS
YCharOS is an open science partnership between the Structural Genomics Consortium, the Montreal Neurological Institute, nine commercial antibody manufacturers and two knockout cell line providers. Their mission is to characterize commercially available reagent antibodies for every human protein. The goal is to identify the best-performing antibodies for a specific application, with a focus on renewable antibodies.
The business model, developed by the Structural Genomics Consortium, centers around an open science environment that allows for the pooling of resources from leading antibody manufacturers and public funders.
YCharOS and its partners are committed to following the open science principles and make all their methods, results and data available to the community, openly and transparently, without restriction and patent-free.
About the approach
YCharOS use leading antibody characterization technology developed and implemented at the Montreal Neurological Institute. The process involves creating or obtaining knockout (KO) cell lines for a protein target and screening all commercial antibodies against that target head-to-head in key academic applications, comparing wild-type to KO cells.
Protein targets are prioritized by funders. Once a target is nominated, commercial antibodies are donated by the commercial partners (typically 5-15 antibodies/target), as well as available knockout cell lines.
Prior to publication data are reviewed by all of YCharOS’s industry partners prior to publication during monthly advisory committee meetings. YCharOS publicly releases all data without restriction and seeks no intellectual property rights in the data of its subsequent use.
Scope
This Gateway is primarily designed to publish antibody characterization reports produced by the YCharOS team. The Gateway also publishes related content including brief reports, editorials and methods articles as well as the outputs of collaborative research that build on these antibody characterization reports.
Only the YCharOS team can publish in this Gateway. However antibody users are welcome to use the publications available within this Gateway as a guide to select the most suitable antibodies for their research need.
If you are interested in collaborating with the YCharOS team and learning more about their work, please get in touch with Chetan Raina (chetan.raina@ycharos.com).
Our industry partners
YCharOS proudly partners with the following leading antibody manufacturers and knockout cell line providers:
Abcam
ABCD Antibodies
Aviva Systems Biology
Bio-Techne
Cell Signalling Technology
Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank (DSHB)
GeneTex
Horizon Discovery
Institute for Protein Innovation
Proteintech
Synaptic Systems
Thermo Fisher Scientific
YCharOS is an open science partnership between the Structural Genomics Consortium, the Montreal Neurological Institute, nine commercial antibody manufacturers and two knockout cell line providers. Their mission is to characterize commercially available reagent antibodies for every human protein. The goal is to identify the best-performing antibodies for a specific application, with a focus on renewable antibodies.
The business model, developed by the Structural Genomics Consortium, centers around an open science environment that allows for the pooling of resources from leading antibody manufacturers and public funders.
YCharOS and its partners are committed to following the open science principles and make all their methods, results and data available to the community, openly and transparently, without restriction and patent-free.
About the approach
YCharOS use leading antibody characterization technology developed and implemented at the Montreal Neurological Institute. The process involves creating or obtaining knockout (KO) cell lines for a protein target and screening all commercial antibodies against that target head-to-head in key academic applications, comparing wild-type to KO cells.
Protein targets are prioritized by funders. Once a target is nominated, commercial antibodies are donated by the commercial partners (typically 5-15 antibodies/target), as well as available knockout cell lines.
Prior to publication data are reviewed by all of YCharOS’s industry partners prior to publication during monthly advisory committee meetings. YCharOS publicly releases all data without restriction and seeks no intellectual property rights in the data of its subsequent use.
Scope
This Gateway is primarily designed to publish antibody characterization reports produced by the YCharOS team. The Gateway also publishes related content including brief reports, editorials and methods articles as well as the outputs of collaborative research that build on these antibody characterization reports.
Only the YCharOS team can publish in this Gateway. However antibody users are welcome to use the publications available within this Gateway as a guide to select the most suitable antibodies for their research need.
If you are interested in collaborating with the YCharOS team and learning more about their work, please get in touch with Chetan Raina (chetan.raina@ycharos.com).
Our industry partners
YCharOS proudly partners with the following leading antibody manufacturers and knockout cell line providers:
Abcam
ABCD Antibodies
Aviva Systems Biology
Bio-Techne
Cell Signalling Technology
Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank (DSHB)
GeneTex
Horizon Discovery
Institute for Protein Innovation
Proteintech
Synaptic Systems
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Gateway Areas
The ALS-RAP project was established by three prominent ALS charities: ALS Association (USA), Motor Neurone Disease Association (UK), and the ALS Society of Canada.
Antibodies are among the most used reagents in biomedical research, yet their reliability is a major concern. As such, the ALS-RAP project has partnered with the Structural Genomics Consortium lab located the Montreal Neurological Institute (McGill), granting YCharOS to capability to carry out a standardized antibody characterization procedure to ensure the availability of high-quality antibodies for ALS-associated proteins. This collaboration, aligning with open science principles, facilitates the production of reliable data, ultimately enhancing the success of future drug discovery for ALS, a neurodegenerative illness currently lacking a cure.
Antibodies are among the most used reagents in biomedical research, yet their reliability is a major concern. As such, the ALS-RAP project has partnered with the Structural Genomics Consortium lab located the Montreal Neurological Institute (McGill), granting YCharOS to capability to carry out a standardized antibody characterization procedure to ensure the availability of high-quality antibodies for ALS-associated proteins. This collaboration, aligning with open science principles, facilitates the production of reliable data, ultimately enhancing the success of future drug discovery for ALS, a neurodegenerative illness currently lacking a cure.
The TREAT-AD Center: Emory-Sage- Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) was established by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to identify high quality reagents, including antibodies, cell lines and chemical probes for a novel set drug targets associated with AD progression and development. More information can be found on their website: https://treatad.org/emory-sage-sgc/
Similarly, the AMP-AP program was initiated by the NIA as a partnership between government, industry and non-profit organizations, such as YCharOS. The programs objective is to expand and diversify the existing toolkit employed in the research and development of new diagnostics and treatments for AD. More information can be found on their websites: https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/amp-ad-first-iteration and https://adknowledgeportal.synapse.org
By collaborating with YCharOS, both TREAT-AD and AMP-AD have nominated a list of AD-related protein targets for which the results of the antibody characterization data can be found in this gateway area. This collaboration facilitates the release of open and reliable data, enhancing the reproducibility of research in the field of AD and increases the success rate of discovering a treatment for AD, a neurodegenerative disease which currently has no cure.
Similarly, the AMP-AP program was initiated by the NIA as a partnership between government, industry and non-profit organizations, such as YCharOS. The programs objective is to expand and diversify the existing toolkit employed in the research and development of new diagnostics and treatments for AD. More information can be found on their websites: https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/amp-ad-first-iteration and https://adknowledgeportal.synapse.org
By collaborating with YCharOS, both TREAT-AD and AMP-AD have nominated a list of AD-related protein targets for which the results of the antibody characterization data can be found in this gateway area. This collaboration facilitates the release of open and reliable data, enhancing the reproducibility of research in the field of AD and increases the success rate of discovering a treatment for AD, a neurodegenerative disease which currently has no cure.
This gateway area presents the antibody characterization data for protein targets nominated by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. This collaborative effort provides reagent validation and reliable data for protein targets that are implicated in PD pathogenesis, serving as a vital tool to strengthen PD research, accelerating drug development.
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research was established with the mission of supporting PD research, progressing the next generation of PD treatment, enhancing the quality of life for patients with the disease and ultimately, finding a cure. For more information on the foundation, visit https://www.michaeljfox.org.
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The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research was established with the mission of supporting PD research, progressing the next generation of PD treatment, enhancing the quality of life for patients with the disease and ultimately, finding a cure. For more information on the foundation, visit https://www.michaeljfox.org.
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The Rab family of small GTPases regulate membrane and vesicle trafficking processes, with over 60 Rabs encoded in the human genome (1-3). This area focuses on the antibody characterization data collected for various Rabs. With the support of academic and industry experts in protein secretion and endocytic activities- who inspired the YCharOS initiative over 3 years ago at a FASEB conference and have donated knockout cell lines for many Rab proteins- we are progressively working towards applying the antibody characterization platform for all proteins in the Rab GTPase family.
In the past decade, altered expression and dysregulation of Rabs have been discovered to be associated with various human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and immune disorders (4-9). These individual Data Notes enable researchers to identify renewable and specific antibodies for Rabs, thus serving as a valuable research tool to advance our understanding of these GTPases as well as their role within pathological mechanisms.
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1. Pfeffer SR. Unsolved mysteries in membrane traffic. Annu Rev Biochem. 2007;76:629-45.
2. Corbeel L, Freson K. Rab proteins and Rab-associated proteins: major actors in the mechanism of protein-trafficking disorders. Eur J Pediatr. 2008;167(7):723-9.
3. Klöpper TH, Kienle N, Fasshauer D, Munro S. Untangling the evolution of Rab G proteins: implications of a comprehensive genomic analysis. BMC Biol. 2012;10:71.
4. Guadagno NA, Progida C. Rab GTPases: Switching to Human Diseases. Cells. 2019;8(8).
5. Wang D, Chan CC, Cherry S, Hiesinger PR. Membrane trafficking in neuronal maintenance and degeneration. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2013;70(16):2919-34.
6. Li G, Marlin MC. Rab family of GTPases. Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1298:1-15.
7. Gopal Krishnan PD, Golden E, Woodward EA, Pavlos NJ, Blancafort P. Rab GTPases: Emerging Oncogenes and Tumor Suppressive Regulators for the Editing of Survival Pathways in Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2020;12(2).
8. Xu S, Cao B, Xuan G, Xu S, An Z, Zhu C, et al. Function and regulation of Rab GTPases in cancers. Cell Biol Toxicol. 2024;40(1):28.
9. Krzewski K, Cullinane AR. Evidence for defective Rab GTPase-dependent cargo traffic in immune disorders. Exp Cell Res. 2013;319(15):2360-7.
In the past decade, altered expression and dysregulation of Rabs have been discovered to be associated with various human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and immune disorders (4-9). These individual Data Notes enable researchers to identify renewable and specific antibodies for Rabs, thus serving as a valuable research tool to advance our understanding of these GTPases as well as their role within pathological mechanisms.
Icon created with BioRender.com
1. Pfeffer SR. Unsolved mysteries in membrane traffic. Annu Rev Biochem. 2007;76:629-45.
2. Corbeel L, Freson K. Rab proteins and Rab-associated proteins: major actors in the mechanism of protein-trafficking disorders. Eur J Pediatr. 2008;167(7):723-9.
3. Klöpper TH, Kienle N, Fasshauer D, Munro S. Untangling the evolution of Rab G proteins: implications of a comprehensive genomic analysis. BMC Biol. 2012;10:71.
4. Guadagno NA, Progida C. Rab GTPases: Switching to Human Diseases. Cells. 2019;8(8).
5. Wang D, Chan CC, Cherry S, Hiesinger PR. Membrane trafficking in neuronal maintenance and degeneration. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2013;70(16):2919-34.
6. Li G, Marlin MC. Rab family of GTPases. Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1298:1-15.
7. Gopal Krishnan PD, Golden E, Woodward EA, Pavlos NJ, Blancafort P. Rab GTPases: Emerging Oncogenes and Tumor Suppressive Regulators for the Editing of Survival Pathways in Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2020;12(2).
8. Xu S, Cao B, Xuan G, Xu S, An Z, Zhu C, et al. Function and regulation of Rab GTPases in cancers. Cell Biol Toxicol. 2024;40(1):28.
9. Krzewski K, Cullinane AR. Evidence for defective Rab GTPase-dependent cargo traffic in immune disorders. Exp Cell Res. 2013;319(15):2360-7.
This section highlights articles featuring antibody characterization data for protein targets related to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and autism. The research in this area is partially funded by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI).