A Pilot Urinary Proteome Study Reveals Widespread Influences of Circadian Rhythm Disruption by Sleep Deprivation

Integrating Assessment of Circadian Rhythmicity to Improve Treatment Outcomes for Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders: Updates on New Treatments

Purpose of Review

Despite advancements in basic circadian research, development of new diagnostic and treatment strategies for circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders (CRSWDs) has been slow. Here, we review the most recent innovations in human circadian assessment and emerging new therapies for CRSWDs.

Recent Findings

Researchers have improved existing circadian assessment methods to overcome logistical barriers and developed novel circadian assessment methods. New treatments for CRSWDs involve pharmacological and behavioral treatments that modulate circadian phase, amplitude, and/or robustness of the central circadian clock.

Summary

Commercialization of these emerging tools will require overcoming barriers, such as additional testing to confirm the underlying pathology and mechanism of action of potential treatments. Clinicians and scientists are also called to survey adjacent fields and adopt existing diagnostic tools that may offer diagnostic clarity in CRSWDs. Lastly, we must continue to advocate for medical insurance coverage of current and future tools and technologies to improve patient care.

Human serum proteomics reveals a molecular signature after one night of sleep deprivation

Study Objectives

Sleep deprivation is highly prevalent and caused by conditions such as night shift work or illnesses like obstructive sleep apnea. Compromised sleep affects cardiovascular-, immune-, and neuronal systems. Recently, we published human serum proteome changes after a simulated night shift. This pilot proteomic study aimed to further explore changes in human blood serum after 6 hours of sleep deprivation at night.

Methods

Human blood serum samples from eight self-declared healthy females were analyzed using Orbitrap Eclipse mass spectrometry (MS-MS) and high-pressure liquid chromatography. We used a within-participant design, in which the samples were taken after 6 hours of sleep at night and after 6 hours of sleep deprivation the following night. Systems biological databases and bioinformatic software were used to analyze the data and comparative analysis were done with other published sleep-related proteomic datasets.

Results

Out of 494 proteins, 66 were found to be differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) after 6 hours of sleep deprivation. Functional enrichment analysis revealed the associations of these DEPs with several biological functions related to the altered regulation of cellular processes such as platelet degranulation and blood coagulation, as well as associations with different curated gene sets.

Conclusions

This study presents serum proteomic changes after 6 hours of sleep deprivation, supports previous findings showing that short sleep deprivation affects several biological processes, and reveals a molecular signature of proteins related to pathological conditions such as altered coagulation and platelet function, impaired lipid and immune function, and cell proliferation. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD045729. This paper is part of the Genetic and other molecular underpinnings of sleep, sleep disorders, and circadian rhythms including translational approaches Collection.

Recent progress in mass spectrometry-based urinary proteomics

Serum or plasma is frequently utilized in biomedical research; however, its application is impeded by the requirement for invasive sample collection. The non-invasive nature of urine collection makes it an attractive alternative for disease characterization and biomarker discovery. Mass spectrometry-based protein profiling of urine has led to the discovery of several disease-associated biomarkers. Proteomic analysis of urine has not only been applied to disorders of the kidney and urinary bladder but also to conditions affecting distant organs because proteins excreted in the urine originate from multiple organs. This review provides a progress update on urinary proteomics carried out over the past decade. Studies summarized in this review have expanded the catalog of proteins detected in the urine in a variety of clinical conditions. The wide range of applications of urine analysis-from characterizing diseases to discovering predictive, diagnostic and prognostic markers-continues to drive investigations of the urinary proteome.