PHRT

Protein Structures as Biomarkers of Disease Progression to Support Personalized Patient Care – PHRT

Project

Protein Structures as Biomarkers of Disease Progression to Support Personalized Patient Care

Short Summary

This project aims at assessing the capability of a new mass spectrometric technology (LiP-MS) to generate molecular data that comprehensively describe physiological and pathological states of an organism. The technology enables the detection of aberrant protein structures from minute amounts of biological specimens. To illustrate the capabilities of the approach, we will apply LiP-MS to the identification of novel biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and for the stratification of PD patients.

Goals

This project aims at assessing the power of a new technology based on mass spectrometry (LiP-MS) to detect aberrant protein structures as a novel type of disease biomarkers. LiP-MS generates a novel type of molecular data that comprehensively and quantitatively describe physiological and pathological states of an organism. To showcase the potential of the technology, the project focuses on the use of LiP-MS for the identification of novel PD biomarkers for early disease detection and predictors of cognitive decline.

Significance

This project will generate a new type of molecular data from a cohort of PD patients and age-matched controls and has the potential to yield novel PD biomarkers. Further, it will translate the LiP-MS technology to a clinical setting. Upon completion of the project, we plan to make the technology available for clinical applications through the mass spectrometric (MS) platform recently established by the PHRT executive committee. LiP-MS analyses can be applied to generate molecular data for a variety of other diseases, such as cancer.

Background

Parkinson disease (PD) is is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the appearance of aberrant proteinaceous structures in the brain tissue. The main symptoms of PD are tremor and bradichinesia. A substantial fraction of PD patients however suffers from non-motor symptoms including cognitive dysfunction. The early diagnosis of PD and the stratification of patients based on PD subtypes would help physicians to take informed decisions on the best course of management and would increase the chance of success of disease-modifying compounds. At present, there are no reliable biochemical biomarkers for PD diagnosis and for patient stratification.

Technology Translation

Prof. Dr. Paola Picotti

Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, ETH Zurich

Co-Investigators

  • Dr. Wilma D.J. van de Berg, VU University Medical Centre (VUmC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Prof. Dr. Andreas Beyer, University of Cologne, Germany

Consortium

Status
Completed

Funded by