Transformative Impact of Proteomics on Cardiovascular Health and Disease

Abstract

Abstract-The year 2014 marked the 20th anniversary of the coining of the term proteomics. The purpose of this scientific statement is to summarize advances over this period that have catalyzed our capacity to address the experimental, translational, and clinical implications of proteomics as applied to cardiovascular health and disease and to evaluate the current status of the field. Key successes that have energized the field are delineated; opportunities for proteomics to drive basic science research, facilitate clinical translation, and establish diagnostic and therapeutic healthcare algorithms are discussed; and challenges that remain to be solved before proteomic technologies can be readily translated from scientific discoveries to meaningful advances in cardiovascular care are addressed. Proteomics is the result of disruptive technologies, namely, mass spectrometry and database searching, which drove protein analysis from 1 protein at a time to protein mixture analyses that enable large-scale analysis of proteins and facilitate paradigm shifts in biological concepts that address important clinical questions. Over the past 20 years, the field of proteomics has matured, yet it is still developing rapidly. The scope of this statement will extend beyond the reaches of a typical review article and offer guidance on the use of next-generation proteomics for future scientific discovery in the basic research laboratory and clinical settings.

Utilizing proteomics to understand and define hypertension: where are we and where do we go?

“…Readers are referred to review articles providing further background, including a recent American Heart Association statement [18]. The term proteomics was first coined in 1994 by Marc Wilkins as the study of an organism’s proteome at a given time [19].…”

“…While proteomic techniques have found their way into the study of some cardiovascular diseases [18,32], the number of applications in hypertension remain limited. The above mentioned limitation of some of the techniques, the dependence of results on the type of biosamples and proteomic platforms used, and the heterogeneity of hypertension as a clinical condition are some of the hurdles that have to be tackled.…”

“…Compared to other approaches, including genomic studies the progress in the proteomic field is, however, slow despite the apparent potential of such studies [18]. In part this is due to proteomics being a relatively young area of research and the complexity not only of the proteome itself but also the proteomic platforms that require specialist skills to acquire and interpret the data.…”

“…The potential of proteomics in cardiovascular diseases has been recognized [18] but there are almost no large-scale programs that employ a standardized approach to the proteomics of hypertension. Without such efforts the field of proteomics is unlikely to make meaningful contributions to hypertension research, although it will continue to play an important role in other clinical conditions.…”

Clinical Mass Spectrometry in Heart Disease

“…A recent scientific statement released by the American Heart Association discusses several hurdles that must be overcome to achieve a more secure footing of MS in cardiovascular science. 13 A main issue raised is the requirement to improve the communication between the public, medical and research communities, as with the aforementioned HUPO proteomic standards initiative. Furthermore, the need to improve throughput and reliability of assays, standardisation of protocols and platforms and implement more widely accepted sample preparation is another note of concern, with many research groups suggesting their own developed methods.…”