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oai:figshare.com:article/33776860 2026-09-15T10:55:39Z category_25270 category_24748 portal_549 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Cystatin-A Degradome Foundation Atlas Axel Petzold (7076261) Theoretical and computational chemistry not elsewhere classified Neurosciences not elsewhere classified cystatin-a degradome <p dir="ltr">This Figshare repository hosts the Cystatin-A Degradome Foundation Atlas (Version 1), a comprehensive in silico reconstruction of the theoretical peptide landscape generated through the proteolytic cleavage of human cystatin A (CSTA).</p><p dir="ltr"><br>Designed as an open-access reference resource for researchers in proteomics, degradomics, mass spectrometry, and biomarker discovery, this dataset systematically maps the potential fragment landscape of cystatin A. Rather than treating cystatin A as a single static protein, the atlas adopts a degradome-centred perspective in which protein turnover and proteolytic processing generate dynamic populations of peptide fragments.</p><p dir="ltr"><br>Cystatin A (stefin A) is an endogenous Family 1 cystatin (stefin) that functions as an intracellular thiol protease inhibitor. It plays a critical role in epidermal barrier integrity, keratinocyte differentiation, innate mucosal immunity, and desmosomal adhesion. Characterizing its proteolytic fragment landscape may therefore provide valuable insights into disease-associated protein processing, barrier dysfunction, and the development of peptide-based biomarkers.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr"><br>Key Features of the Proteomics Dataset</p><p dir="ltr"><br>Using predicted enzymatic and chemical cleavage sites, the atlas systematically generates and annotates the possible cystatin A peptide fragments. Each fragment is characterized using physicochemical features relevant to mass spectrometry, proteomics, and computational peptide analysis.</p><p dir="ltr"><br>Mass Spectrometry and Peptide Metrics:Molecular weightMass-to-charge ratio (m/z)Net chargeIsoelectric point (pI)<br>Biochemical and Biophysical Features:HydrophobicityBoman indexInstability indexAliphatic index<br>Together, these annotations provide a feature-rich computational reference for exploring the detectability, physicochemical behaviour, and potential analytical relevance of cystatin A-derived peptides.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr"><br>Applications in Biomarker Discovery and Biomedical Research</p><p dir="ltr"><br>The Cystatin A Degradome Foundation Atlas can support a broad range of experimental and computational applications, including:<br>Targeted Proteomics: Identification and prioritization of candidate peptides for mass-spectrometry assays.<br>Biomarker Discovery: Exploration of cystatin A-derived peptide candidates associated with epidermal barrier disorders, exfoliative skin conditions, squamous cell carcinoma, mucosal inflammation, and altered proteostasis.<br>Discovery Proteomics: Interpretation and annotation of cystatin A-derived signals detected in mass-spectrometry datasets.<br>Degradomics: Investigation of potential proteolytic processing patterns and fragment populations.<br>Clinical Proteomics: Computational exploration of cystatin A processing in biological fluids, skin barrier interfaces, and disease-associated conditions.<br>Computational Biology: Generation of reference features for peptide-level modelling, degradome analysis, and machine-learning applications.<br>Assay Development: Prioritization of candidate cystatin A peptides for future experimental validation.</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr"><br>Data Inclusion and Reproducibility</p><p dir="ltr"><br>The atlas provides a systematic computational representation of the wild-type cystatin A degradome, including the complete set of theoretically generated contiguous peptide fragments and their calculated physicochemical properties.<br>Importantly, this Foundation Atlas represents a theoretical fragment space rather than a catalogue of experimentally confirmed cystatin A peptides. Experimental proteomic and mass-spectrometry studies will be required to establish which predicted fragments are generated and detectable under physiological or disease-associated conditions.</p><p dir="ltr"><br>Future releases will expand the resource through the incorporation of additional cystatin A variants, experimentally validated cleavage products, and complementary experimental proteomics data.</p> 2026-09-15T10:55:39Z Dataset Dataset 10.5522/04/33776860.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Cystatin-A_Degradome_Foundation_Atlas/33776860 CC0