Proteomics of human prostate cancer biospecimens: the global,systems-wide perspective for Protein markers with potential clinical utility

Despite intense global efforts, no new clinical and/or viable biomarkers have been established to overcome the limitation of the prostate specific antigen in the early diagnosis and prognosis of prostate cancer (PCa). The current proteomic approaches to PCa biomarker discovery, each have distinct advantages and disadvantages, yet when combined hold real promise in the coming years. One key approach to this effort is the development of non-targeted, depletion-free and quantitative liquid chromatography–ultra high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS) pipelines for the systems-wide interrogation of the diverse proteomes encompassed in whole tissue and blood serum or plasma. Derived quantitative proteomes can be decoded for their biomedical relevance with advanced bioinformatics and bibliographic mining to yield promising ‘molecular portraits’ that can gauge prostatic disease at the serological level. Their functional annotation, although potentially useful, is beyond our current level of biological understanding and should not be requisite for their effective use in the clinical monitoring of prostatic disease.     

Arundo micrantha,a new reed species for Italy,threatened in the freshwater habitat by the congeneric invasive A. donax

Arundo micrantha Lam., a reed species from southern Mediterranean area, has found in Sardinia. Its presence represents the first record for Italy and the third one for western Europe. Investigations on distribution and ecology of the Sardinian population have been carried out, with special focusing on synecology of the species. A. micrantha has found in 40 localities mainly distributed along temporary streams and permanent rivers in the central and southern part of the island. Most of Sardinian populations occurs on alluvial soils in Thermomediterranean bioclimatic context. The autonomy of Sardinian phytocoenoses was characterized with the definition of exclusive floristic taxa, biological and chorological elements, and syndinamic relationships with other assemblages. Comparing the community with other reed beds from the Mediterranean basin, a marked floristic differentiation arose between the phytocoenoses characterized by autochthonous Arundo species and those dominated by the invasive Arundo donax. Finally, management activities are proposed to ensure the conservation of this threatened autochthonous plant community in freshwater habitat.     

Proteomics and the blood–brain barrier: how recent findings help drug development

The drug discovery and development processes are divided into different stages separated by milestones to indicate that significant progress has been made and that certain criteria for target validation, hits, leads and candidate drugs have been met. Proteomics is a promising approach for the identification of protein targets and biochemical pathways involved in disease process and thus plays an important role in several stages of the drug development. The blood–brain barrier is considered as a major bottleneck when trying to target new compounds to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Based on the survey of recent findings and with a projection on expected improvements, this report attempt to address how proteomics participates in drug development.