Quantitative variability of 342 plasma proteins in a human twin population

The human plasma proteome is clinically highly significant and has been studied extensively because it is thought that its molecular makeup provides a window into the health state of an individual. However, neither the quantitative variability of the plasma proteome nor the origins of the variation are known. To determine the relative contributions of heritability, environmental and longitudinal factors to plasma proteome variability we systematically decomposed the biological variance of 1904 peptides defining 342 unique plasma protein profiles from 232 plasma samples that were collected with 2-7 year intervals from monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins. The data were collected via SWATH mass spectrometry (SWATH-MS), an emerging technology characterized by high degree of reproducibility and quantitative accuracy. The data indicate abundance variability is an important feature for different proteins among population, that the abundances of about 20% of plasma protein are considerably heritable, and that the degrees of genetic control and aging effects vary across specific biological processes. Moreover, we identified 13 cis- SNPs significantly influencing the abundance level of specific plasma proteins. These results substantially extend the understanding of the impact of heritability on the human proteomic dynamics and therefore have implications for the effective design of plasma-based biomarker studies.