The use of localized proteomics to identify the drivers of Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis

Alzheimer’s disease（AD）is broadly defined by dementia and the presence of specific neuropathological features in the brain（amyloid plaques,neurofibrillary tangles（NFTs）and congophilic amyloid angiopathy）.However,the rate of disease progression,type of cognitive impairment,and extent of neuropathology vary widely in patients with AD（Murray et al.,2011）.

Homopteran Vector Biomarkers for Efficient Circulative Plant Virus Transmission are Conserved in Multiple Aphid Species and the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci

Plant viruses in the families Luteoviridae and Geminiviridae are phloem restricted and are transmitted in a persistent,circulative manner by homopteran insects.Using fluorescence 2-D difference gel electrophoresis to compare the proteomes of F2 genotypes of Schizaphis graminum segregating for virus transmission ability,we recently discovered a panel of protein biomarkers that predict vector competency.Here we used aphid and whitefly nucleotide and expressed sequence tag database mining to test whether these biomarkers are conserved in other homopteran insects.S.graminum gene homologs that shared a high degree of predicted amino acid identity were discovered in two other aphid species and in the whitefly Bemisia tabaci.Selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry was used to validate the expression of these biomarkers proteins in multiple aphid vector species.The conservation of these proteins in multiple insect taxa that transmit plant viruses along the circulative transmission pathway creates the opportunity to use these biomarkers to rapidly identify insect populations that are the most efficient vectors and allow them to be targeted for control prior to the spread of virus within a crop.

Cell-free synthesis of stable isotope-labeled internal standards for targeted quantitative proteomics

High-sensitivity mass spectrometry approaches using selected reaction monitoring(SRM)or multiple reaction monitoring(MRM)methods are powerful tools for targeted quantitative proteomics-based investigation of dynamics in specific biological systems.Both high-sensitivity detection of lowabundance proteins and their quantification using this technique employ stable isotope-labeled peptide internal standards.Currently,there are various ways for preparing standards,including chemical peptide synthesis,cellular protein expression,and cell-free protein or peptide synthesis.Cell-free protein synthesis(CFPS)or in vitro translation(IVT)systems in particular provide high-throughput and low-cost preparation methods,and various cell types and reconstituted forms are now commercially available.Herein,we review the use of such systems for precise and reliable protein quantification.

Systems Approaches to Biology and Disease Enable Translational Systems Medicine

The development and application of systems strategies to biology and disease are transforming medical research and clinical practice in an unprecedented rate. In the foreseeable future, clinicians, medical researchers, and ultimately the consumers and patients will be increasingly equipped with a deluge of personal health information, e.g., whole genome sequences, molecular profiling of diseased tissues, and periodic multi-analyte blood testing of biomarker panels for disease and wellness. The convergence of these practices will enable accurate prediction of disease susceptibility and early diagnosis for actionable preventive schema and personalized treatment regimes tailored to each individual. It will also entail proactive participation from all major stakeholders in the health care system. We are at the dawn of predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory （P4） medicine, the fully implementation of which requires marrying basic and clinical researches through advanced systems thinking and the employment of high-throughput technologies in genomics, pro- teomics, nanofluidics, single-cell analysis, and computation strategies in a highly-orchestrated discipline we termed translational systems medicine.