Ferritin Degradome Atlas (Version 2)DescriptionThe Ferritin Degradome Atlas (Version 2) is a comprehensive, open-access reference dataset that systematically maps the complete theoretical degradome of human ferritin heavy and light chains. Developed within the Degradome Atlas framework, this resource provides a high-resolution computational catalogue of all potential peptide fragments that may arise through proteolytic or chemical cleavage of ferritin.What’s New in Version 2 (Latest Update)This major update expands the atlas to incorporate five distinct pathogenic mutations across two critical clinical phenotypes, enabling precise variant-level peptidomics and biomarker discovery:Haemochromatosis Type 5: Includes the K54R mutation.Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation (NBIA): Includes six distinct amino acid substitutions at the S164 position (S164A, S164T, S164P, S164C, S164Y, and S164F).Biological and Clinical SignificanceFerritin is the principal intracellular iron-storage protein and a critical regulator of iron homeostasis. Beyond its established role as a widely used clinical biomarker, ferritin is a pivotal molecule in neuroimmunology, neurodegeneration, inflammation, autoimmunity, microglial biology, myelination, and ferritinophagy-related cellular pathways. Dysregulation of ferritin and the appearance of specific mutant variants are heavily implicated in numerous neurological, inflammatory, autoimmune, and systemic diseases.The Ferritin Degradome Atlas enumerates every theoretically possible contiguous peptide fragment generated from both wild-type and mutant human ferritin sequences based on predicted enzymatic and chemical cleavage events. Each fragment is extensively annotated with biochemical and biophysical characteristics relevant to proteomics, mass spectrometry, biomarker discovery, and computational biology.Included Fragment AnnotationsEvery peptide entry within the atlas dataset is characterized by a comprehensive suite of physicochemical descriptors:Sequence Data: Amino acid sequence, fragment start and end positions.Mass Spectrometry Metrics: Molecular weight, mass-to-charge ratio (m/z), net charge, and isoelectric point ($pI$).Stability & Hydrophobicity: Hydrophobicity metrics, Boman index, instability index, and aliphatic index.Advanced Descriptors: Additional peptide-level physicochemical descriptors for machine learning applications.Repository ContentsThis Figshare repository contains the following open-access files and data structures:High-Resolution Datasets: Structured CSV files containing all predicted wild-type and mutant peptide fragments.Annotation Files: Complete peptide property annotations.Code & Workflows: The reproducible Python workflow used for the atlas generation, allowing users to replicate or scale the pipeline.Archives: Compressed archive (.zip/.tar.gz) of all computational outputs.Documentation: Full technical documentation and methodology guide (PDF).ApplicationsThe Ferritin Degradome Atlas is designed to support researchers in:Biomarker Discovery & Validation: Identifying novel peptide markers for iron overload and neurodegenerative diseases.Disease Research: Investigating Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation (NBIA), Haemochromatosis Type 5, neuroimmunology, microglial biology, and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases.Proteomics & Peptidomics: Optimizing mass spectrometry workflows, bottom-up proteomics, and clear cleavage-site/protease profiling.Immunology: Autoantibody epitope mapping and immune response profiling.Computational Biology: Training datasets for machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications in biomarker science, systems biology, and degradomics.Future Outlook: As new ferritin variants, cleavage mechanisms, disease-associated mutations, and experimentally validated degradation products become available, future releases will continue to expand and refine the atlas, progressively bridging the gap between the theoretical degradome and biologically observed peptide landscapes.