In preparation for the next possible pandemic, an international group of researchers has published the first public “wiki” platform that catalogs and curates data on the thousands of proteins found in human saliva.
Saliva has long been used for non-invasive diagnostics, but it became that much more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was widely used to accurately detect the virus and track the body’s immune response. In fact, just today Mount Sinai Health System announced the expansion of a saliva-based COVID-19 testing program in NYC Public Schools. The sensitive, child-friendly, PCR-based testing can return results within 24 hours with an 0.4 percent positivity rate. The program, called Mount Sinai COVID Lab, will process 25,000 tests per day by mid-June and will scale to 100,000 tests per day in the months after that.
While the collection of a saliva sample may be easy, the analysis is not. Not only does human saliva contain thousands of proteins, but those proteins contain a high level of variability. Therefore, the study authors said, it is critical to establish normal ranges for the composition of saliva before it continues to be an essential research tool for diagnostics, precision medicine, dentistry, future emerging diseases and pandemics and more.
The Human Salivary Proteome Wiki complies research and data on the salivary proteome, genome, transcriptome (types and levels of mRNA expressed in salivary gland tissue), and glycome, the array of sugars attached to salivary glycoproteins.
“This community-based data and knowledge base will pave the way to harness the full potential of the salivary proteome for diagnosis, risk prediction, and therapy for oral and systemic diseases, and increase preparedness for future emerging diseases and pandemics,” said Stefan Ruhl, DDS, Ph.D., curator of the Human Salivary Proteome Wiki and professor of oral biology in the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine.
Indeed, the wiki is user-generated. Researchers are encouraged to share their mass spectrometry data and annotate the proteins already on the wiki. To help drive references to critical research, annotations are credited to the researchers and clinicians who submit them.
“Annotation is a knowledge-intensive effort that involves interpretation and verification of experimental data and mining of information from the literature or knowledge bases,” the wiki explains. “As the state of science changes constantly, contents in this wiki need to be updated continuously to reflect our best and latest understanding of the saliva proteome.”
Researchers can also submit proposals to add, remove or modify data. All proposed changes are routed through an interdisciplinary team of curators to ensure information is accurate and supported by sound scientific evidence. Additionally, the researchers say they will host a series of activities that bring contributors together to inspire novel ideas and foster cross-discipline collaborations.
“Saliva has become an attractive body fluid for on-site, remote and real-time monitoring of oral and systemic health. The scientific community needs a saliva-centered information platform that keeps pace with the rapid accumulation of new data and knowledge,” concluded William Lau, computational biologist at the National Institutes of Health.
Photo: The Mount Sinai COVID Lab conducts saliva-based COVID-19 testing program in NYC Public Schools. Credit: Mount Sinai Health System