Advances in proteomic techniques for biomarker discovery in COPD

Prognostic Biomarkers Based on Proteomic Technology in COPD: A Recent Review

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common heterogeneous respiratory disease which is characterized by persistent and incompletely reversible airflow limitation. Due to the heterogeneity and phenotypic complexity of COPD, traditional diagnostic methods provide limited information and pose a great challenge to clinical management. In recent years, with the development of omics technologies, proteomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, etc., have been widely used in the study of COPD, providing great help to discover new biomarkers and elucidate the complex mechanisms of COPD. In this review, we summarize the prognostic biomarkers of COPD based on proteomic studies in recent years and evaluate their association with COPD prognosis. Finally, we present the prospects and challenges of COPD prognostic-related studies. This review is expected to provide cutting-edge evidence in prognostic evaluation of clinical patients with COPD and to inform future proteomic studies on prognostic biomarkers of COPD.

Transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics driven biomarker discovery in COPD: an update

INTRODUCTION

Diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), characterized by progressive irreversible airflow limitation, remains a challenge. Lack of sensitive diagnostic markers and alternative treatments have limited patients' survival rate. Herein, we provide for clinicians and scientists a comprehensive review on the various omics platforms used to investigate COPD.

AREAS COVERED

This review consists of articles from PubMed (2009-2016) as well as views of the contributing authors. The review highlights the need for COPD biomarker identification and also provides an update on promising candidate markers identified in various biological fluids using omics technologies. Expert commentary: The multi-omics approach holds promise for the development of robust early stage COPD diagnostic markers, screening of high-risk population, and also improved prognosis which could lead to personalized medicine in future. Various factors regulating an omics study including sample size, control selection, disease phenotyping, usage of complementary techniques and result replication in omics-based research are outlined.

Application of proteomics and peptidomics to COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex disorder involving both airways and lung parenchyma, usually associated with progressive and poorly reversible airflow limitation. In order to better characterize the phenotypic heterogeneity and the prognosis of patients with COPD, there is currently an urgent need for discovery and validation of reliable disease biomarkers. Within this context, proteomic and peptidomic techniques are emerging as very valuable tools that can be applied to both systemic and pulmonary samples, including peripheral blood, induced sputum, exhaled breath condensate, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and lung tissues. Identification of COPD biomarkers by means of proteomic and peptidomic approaches can thus also lead to discovery of new molecular targets potentially useful to improve and personalize the therapeutic management of this widespread respiratory disease.