Proteomics and glomerulonephritis: A complementary approach in renal pathology for the identification of chronic kidney disease related markers

Abstract

Glomerulonephritis (GN) is one of the most common origins of chronic kidney disease and its careful evaluation is crucial for prognostic and therapeutic purposes, with the renal biopsy still playing a central role for the diagnosis. However, due to its invasiveness, it is not devoid of complications and many investigations have focused on identifying biomarkers for chronic kidney diseases using less-invasive and easy-to-collect samples, such as urine and blood. In this context, proteomics has played a crucial role in determining the molecular changes related to disease progression and early pathological glomerular modifications. Here, we report a review of selected literature for each GN, based on selected works published in the last 10 years, showing how these approaches have generated clinically relevant findings in the study of glomerulonephritis. We also describe several proteomic strategies, highlighting their technical advantages and limitations, future perspectives for proteomic applications in the study of GNs, and their possible application in routine practice.

High Spatial Resolution MALDI‐MS Imaging in the Study of Membranous Nephropathy

“…One branch of pathology that may benefit most from the application of high spatial resolution MALDI‐MSI is renal pathology given the high complexity and heterogeneity associated with glomerular diseases . Membranous nephropathy (MN) represents one of the most pressing fields of application given that this glomerulopathy represents the most frequent cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults and approximately one‐third of patients progress to end stage renal disease (ESRD) .…”

“…One branch of pathology that may benefit most from the application of high spatial resolution MALDI-MSI is renal pathology given the high complexity and heterogeneity associated with glomerular diseases. [13] Membranous nephropathy (MN) represents one of the most pressing fields of application [14] given that this glomerulopathy represents the most frequent cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults and approximately one-third of patients progress to end stage renal disease (ESRD). [15] Furthermore, there still remains a fair degree of heterogeneity in terms of patient response and outcomes following the administration of immunosuppressive treatment [16] and a marker that can reliably predict the response of a patient to this therapeutic treatment a priori is lacking.…”

Urinary Peptidomic Biomarkers in Kidney Diseases

“…Proteomic approaches have revealed differences in protein expression among many different glomerular diseases [70]. In addition, Rocchetti et al [71] showed that low urinary levels of kininogen could discriminate between patients with IgA nephropathy, responders or non-responders to therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.…”

A Comprehensive View of the Structural and Functional Alterations of Extracellular Matrix by Snake Venom Metalloproteinases (SVMPs): Novel Perspectives on the Pathophysiology of Envenoming

“…To this end, the introduction of proteomic analysis to the field of pathology has represented a significant step forward in the study of disease at clinical and experimental levels, and in the search of biomarkers (Figure 1F) (see for example [42,43,44,45,46,47]). This methodological platform offers complementary and often advantageous outcomes as compared to other methods mentioned above.…”