Causes and Diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease: A Proteomics Approach

Anne      Poljak; Perminder      Sachdev; George   A.   Smythe

Abstract

Proteomics has become a powerful tool facilitating hypothesis-driven exploration of disease states as well as offering a global approach which can uncover potentially important, though unexpected links to disease etiology. Despite many recent advances, the pathophysiological basis of Alzheimers disease is incompletely understood. Alzheimers dementia almost certainly results from a constellation of cellular changes, with considerable interplay between multiple genetic and environmental factors. As a multifactorial disease, it is an ideal candidate for a proteomics approach which offers a broad spectrum view of changes to protein expression. The use of proteomics in the study of Alzheimers dementia is in its early days. However, its importance as an approach to the study of this disease has been recognized by a considerable number of review papers on this topic. This review summarises the advances that proteomics has so far offered to understanding the basis of Alzheimers pathology. Further, the use of proteomics to explore potential biomarkers of Alzheimers pathology which might be of clinical or diagnostic use, will be addressed.

Keywords: amyloid precursor protein (APP), MALDI-TOF, Neurofibrillary tangles, MS/MS quantification, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), Functional Proteomics

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