Advancing Cardiovascular Biology and Medicine via Proteomics

Abstract

The successful advancement of biology and medicine necessitates a comprehensive and integrative understanding of the proteome in a healthy individual and, through inference, the identification of those proteins considered to be abnormal and to potentially herald disease. Protein markers, complementary to gene markers, constitute the molecular basis for personalized medicine. Given the enormity of the cardiovascular disease burden in modern societies, application of a large-scale protein analysis to cardiac physiology and pathophysiology is important for current and future therapeutic approaches. After nearly a decade of investigation within the realm of cardiovascular proteomics, the daunting question remains: Is proteomics ready to help elucidate normal physiology in health and pathophysiology in cardiovascular disease? To this end, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health had implemented 2 proteomics programs. The first, the NHLBI Proteomics Initiative, was instrumental in the establishment of 10 multidisciplinary centers to enhance and develop innovative protein-based technologies and to apply them to relevant biological questions to advance our knowledge of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders. A parallel second program, the NHLBI Clinical Proteomics Program, was initiated with the goal of promoting a systematic, comprehensive, and large-scale validation of existing and new candidate protein markers that are appropriate for use in the diagnosis and management of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders. Additionally, a multimarker approach was encouraged to enhance the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of existing and new markers. These programs have been …