What is Clinical Proteomics?

The term 'proteomics' was initially described by Dr. Marc Wilkins, a Ph.D. student at the time, who defined the scientific word as a "protein complement of a given genome"; this referred to all proteins expressed by cells.

This field has now become a system for analyzing protein populations. The ultimate objective is to establish which protein or protein group is associated with a function or phenotype.

Biomarkers of Disease

Image Credit: VectorMine/Shutterstock.com

What is Clinical Proteomics?

Clinical proteomics can be described as a comprehensive study of proteins within the body, including qualitative and quantitative profiling. Clinical specimens, including bodily fluids and tissues, can be analyzed from healthy and diseased patients to identify novel biomarkers associated with diseases.

The path towards biomarker discovery can aid as a molecular signature, which can be used to provide a comprehensive understanding of disease stages as the disease progresses within patients. The insight into a patient's disease progression, from early and indolent to late and aggressive stages, can assist physicians with effective treatment management.

This is significant as, with most potentially aggressive diseases, early diagnosis can effectively ensure a patient is treated efficiently, averting adverse symptoms and decreasing morbidity and mortality rates.

Biomarkers can be a useful approach for monitoring patient responses to treatments, ensuring patients are experiencing effective treatments for their corresponding diseases. Ultimately, this can be used to enhance the prognosis rates of patients, as this approach may decipher whether medications are effective for a particular patient, which, if found to be ineffective, can be altered for a more effective treatment.

The field of clinical proteomics can comprise a range of experimental processes, which include well-phenotyped clinical samples and analysis of proteins and peptides that can be used as targets; this can then be used to gather data that is then interpreted and validated for clinical applications.

Biomarker candidates that have been identified through comprehensive profiling have the ability to be translated for clinical applications, which involves a validation study of a cohort of patients. This can be a long process with the aim of deciphering the biomarker's validity for the application of diagnostic or prognostic therapies.

Applications of Clinical Proteomics

This field can be significant for disease identification, including cancer, and can be used to increase cancer therapy, enhancing knowledge of protein markers and the growth of heterogeneous tumors within patients.

DNA microarrays can be used to discover correlations between gene expression and disease subsets, with gene expression profiling allowing for the whole genome study.

An example of this can be found in breast cancer research, with a study finding the expression of genes to be associated with various classes of tumors, including a basal epithelial-like group, ErbB2 overexpressing tumor group, as well as a normal breast group. Studies on these have demonstrated patients belonging to each group have different outcomes, which is a significant piece of information for treatment management, especially for targeted treatments.

Breast Cancer Cells

Image Credit: crystal light/Shutterstock.com

Enhancing Treatment

Targeted treatments have been revered in medicine, particularly with the emergence of personalized medicine, due to the notion that diseases are heterogenous and a 'one size fits all' treatment plan may not be very effective for patients.

Patients that experience the same disease may not have the same response when taking the same medication as a treatment; while one patient may have a high response rate for a drug, causing them to be effectively cured, another patient may not have the same effect due to resistance, resulting in the drug to be ineffective.

An example of this is a monoclonal antibody inhibitor of ErbB2, known as trastuzumab, which has been found to be successful in treating metastatic breast cancer in women overexpressing ErbB2 (HER-2).

However, while this drug has been successful, both as a monotherapy and in conjunction with a chemotherapy drug, it was found to have a less than 50% response rate in patients. Additionally, a subset of patients who were responsive to the drug initially was later found to experience disease progression.

The use of microarray analysis has enabled researchers to find drug targets based on other genes modified due to the ErbB2 overexpression, which can be used as part of combination therapy to increase the response rates of resistant patients.

Translational Significance of Clinical Proteomics

Clinical proteomics can aid with identifying drug targets for patients with an array of diseases, including cancer; this can ultimately aid in a comprehensive understanding of how the disease is functioning on a genomic level. Subsequently, this can lead to potentially novel drug candidates that can be studied in clinical trials to enhance the treatment options for patients resistant to conventional drug treatments.

Ultimately, the use of proteomics can assist in personalized medicine to ensure the patient's disease is being wholly comprehended, with related proteins being assessed as potential biological targets.

References:

  • BioMed Central. 2022. Clinical Proteomics. [online] Available at: <https://clinicalproteomicsjournal.biomedcentral.com/about> [Accessed 28 May 2022].
  • Paik YK., Kim H., Lee EY., Kwon MS., Cho S.Y. (2008) Overview and Introduction to Clinical Proteomics. In: Vlahou A. (eds) Clinical Proteomics. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 428. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-117-8_1
  • Verrills NM. Clinical proteomics: present and future prospects. Clin Biochem Rev. 2006;27(2):99-116. Available at: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1579414/

Further Reading

Last Updated: Jul 25, 2022

Marzia Khan

Written by

Marzia Khan

Marzia Khan is a lover of scientific research and innovation. She immerses herself in literature and novel therapeutics which she does through her position on the Royal Free Ethical Review Board. Marzia has a MSc in Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine as well as a BSc in Biomedical Sciences. She is currently working in the NHS and is engaging in a scientific innovation program.

Citations

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

  • APA

    Khan, Marzia. (2022, July 25). What is Clinical Proteomics?. AZoLifeSciences. Retrieved on October 15, 2024 from https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/What-is-Clinical-Proteomics.aspx.

  • MLA

    Khan, Marzia. "What is Clinical Proteomics?". AZoLifeSciences. 15 October 2024. <https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/What-is-Clinical-Proteomics.aspx>.

  • Chicago

    Khan, Marzia. "What is Clinical Proteomics?". AZoLifeSciences. https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/What-is-Clinical-Proteomics.aspx. (accessed October 15, 2024).

  • Harvard

    Khan, Marzia. 2022. What is Clinical Proteomics?. AZoLifeSciences, viewed 15 October 2024, https://www.azolifesciences.com/article/What-is-Clinical-Proteomics.aspx.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of AZoLifeSciences.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.