Proteomics in Biomarker Discovery for Tuberculosis: Current Status and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to threaten many peoples’ health worldwide, regardless of their country of residence or age. The current diagnosis of TB still uses mainly traditional, time-consuming, and/or culture-based techniques. Efforts have focused on discovering new biomarkers with higher efficiency and accuracy for TB diagnosis. Proteomics—the systematic study of protein diversity—is being applied to the discovery of novel protein biomarkers for different types of diseases. Mass spectrometry (MS) technology plays a revolutionary role in proteomics, and its applicability benefits from the development of other technologies, such as matrix-based and immune-based methods. MS and derivative strategies continuously contribute to disease-related discoveries, and some promising proteomic biomarkers for efficient TB diagnosis have been identified, but challenges still exist. For example, there are discrepancies in the biomarkers identified among different reports and the diagnostic accuracy of clinically applied proteomic biomarkers. The present review summarizes the current status and future perspectives of proteomics in the field of TB biomarker discovery and aims to elicit more promising findings for rapid and accurate TB diagnosis.

Integrated plasma proteomics identifies tuberculosis-specific diagnostic biomarkers

“…We analyzed plasma samples from 2 geographical origins, South Africa and Peru, and identified differences in the plasma proteome by region both in HCs and in TB patients. Such geographical differences need consideration in developing new diagnostic tests (64). Reassuringly, our top candidate biomarkers were validated in an independent cohort of mixed ethnicity and sex, and the 6-protein biomarker panel in a further independent clinical cohort of mixed sex.…”

Diagnóstico no bacteriológico de la tuberculosis. Indicadores de la respuesta inmune. Parte II

“…40 La proteómica investiga la dinámica de los productos proteicos codificados por el genoma (proteoma), facilitado últimamente con la espectrometría de masas de proteínas (MS). 41 Los enfoques transcriptómicos investigan los patrones de expresión génica para derivar firmas moleculares del huésped y fisiología del patógeno. Utilizan métodos de cuantificación de ARN, como la PCR de transcripción reversa cuantitativa (RT-qPCR) y la secuenciación de ARN (RNA-Seq).…”

Exploring TSPAN4 promoter methylation as a diagnostic biomarker for tuberculosis

“…An increasing number of laboratories are turning their focus towards selecting and applying host diagnostic markers. However, the current emphasis is predominantly on the development of RNA and protein biomarkers (McNerney et al, 2012;Guo et al, 2022;Nogueira et al, 2022). Yet, the instability of RNA and the requirement for antigen stimulation in protein diagnosis often lead to diagnoses at later stages, thus limiting diagnostic effectiveness.…”