Life's Simple Measures: Unlocking the Proteome
Abstract
Using modified nucleotides and selecting for slow off-rates in the SELEX procedure, we have evolved a special class of aptamers, called SOMAmers (slow off-rate modified aptamers), which bind tightly and specifically to proteins in body fluids. We use these in a novel assay that yields 1:1 complexes of the SOMAmers with their cognate proteins in body fluids. Measuring the SOMAmer concentrations of the resultant complexes reflects the concentration of the proteins in the fluids. This is simply done by hybridization to complementary sequences on solid supports, but it can also be done by any other DNA quantification technology (including NexGen sequencing). We use measurements of over 1000 proteins in under 100 μL of serum or plasma to answer important medical questions, two of which are reviewed here. A number of bioinformatics methods have guided our discoveries, including principal component analysis. We use various methods to evaluate sample handling procedures in our clinical samples and can identify many parameters that corrupt proteomics analysis.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The SomaScan assay uses DNA-based slow off-rate modified aptamers (SOMAmer reagents) to quantify the relative abundance of approximately 7000 proteins with high specificity and limits of detection largely comparable to antibody-based assays.
“The assay uses DNA-based slow off-rate modified aptamers (SOMAmerTM reagents) to quantify the relative abundance of approximately 7000 proteins with high specificity and limits of detection largely comparable to antibody-based assays.”
From Cross-ancestry comparison of aptamer and antibody protein measures (2026) · cites this paper as [52]
Cites
Aptamer-Based Multiplexed Proteomic Technology for Biomarker Discovery
Gold, L., Ayers, D., Bertino, J., Bock, C., Bock, A., Brody, E. N., Carter, J., Dalby, A. B., Eaton, B. E., Fitzwater, T., et al. (2010) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0015004 · Cited by 1,754 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Plasma protein patterns as comprehensive indicators of health
Williams, S. A., Kivimaki, M., Langenberg, C., Hingorani, A. D., Casas, J. P., Bouchard, C., Jonasson, C., Sarzynski, M. A., Shipley, M. J., Alexander, L., et al. (2019) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41591-019-0665-2 · Cited by 506 · see citing works
Self-citationGanz, P., Heidecker, B., Hveem, K., Jonasson, C., Kato, S., Segal, M. R., Sterling, D. G., & Williams, S. A. (2016) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2016.5951 · Cited by 364 · see citing works
Mistimed food intake and sleep alters 24-hour time-of-day patterns of the human plasma proteome
Depner, C. M., Melanson, E. L., McHill, A. W., & Wright, K. P. (2018) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1714813115 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Cross-ancestry comparison of aptamer and antibody protein measures
Nicholas, J. C., Katz, D. H., Tahir, U. A., Debban, C. L., Aguet, F., Blackwell, T., Bowler, R. P., Broadaway, K. A., Chen, J., Clish, C. B., et al. (2026) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-025-67814-1 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Thanasupawat, T., Glogowska, A., Pascoe, C., Krishnan, S. N., Munir, M., Begum, F., Beiko, J., Krcek, J., Del Bigio, M. R., Pitz, M., et al. (2021) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms22179566 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Activated GDF11/8 subforms predict cardiovascular events and mortality in humans
Walker, R. G., Kato, T., Ben Driss, L., Williams, S. A., Hinterberg, M. A., Janjic, N., Gelinas, A. D., Carpenter, M. A., Kattamuri, C., Walter, J. E., et al. (2025) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-025-61815-w · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Brody, E., Gold, L., Mehan, M., Ostroff, R., Rohloff, J., Walker, J., & Zichi, D.
- Affiliations
- SomaLogic (United States) (US)
- Corresponding author
- Brody, Edward
- ORCID
- Ostroff, Rachel
- Venue
- Journal of Molecular Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-10
- Volume
- 422
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 595-606
- ISSN
- 0022-2836 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2056704280
- Cited by
- 54
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6
- FWCI
- 2.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Molecular Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Advanced Biosensing Techniques and Applications
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Advanced Proteomics Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- SOMAmer, modified nucleotides, SELEX, DNA hybridization assay, principal component analysis
- MeSH terms
- Body Fluids, Protein Binding, Proteome, SELEX Aptamer Technique, Aptamers, Nucleotide
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
