Identifying biomarker candidates in the blood plasma or serum proteome

Abstract

Brain disorders are among the most complex and difficult to understand of human disorders in terms of pathophysiology and etiology. Differently from other human diseases such as cancer, which uses biomarkers in clinical practice, there are no prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers available for psychiatric disorders. Those associated with the likelihood of a successful medication are also not existent, impairing treatment strategies. Proteomics is a suitable tool for identifying such biomarkers to be validated and further implemented in the clinic. Here we present a protocol for the proteome analyses of blood plasma and serum collected in vivo, aiming for the discovery of potential biomarkers and the comprehension of the molecular bases of diseases and treatments.