Proteomics approaches to biomarker detection

The development of mass spectrometry (MS) technologies has brought the ability to gather massive amounts of data characterising the proteomes of complex mixtures. A major focus in proteomics is to leverage this data-gathering capability to conduct comparative analyses of biofluids from healthy and disease-affected patients for the identification of highly specific biomarkers and/or the development of MS-based diagnostic platforms. Much effort has gone into optimising the biofluid proteome coverage that can be obtained using these technologies, leaving proteomics poised to make an important impact in disease diagnostics in the future.