Proteomic changes in traumatic brain injury: experimental approaches

• Published in: Current opinion in neurology Vol. 31; no. 6; p. 709
• Main Authors: Sowers, James L, Wu, Ping, Zhang, Kangling, DeWitt, Douglas S, Prough, Donald S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.12.2018
• Subjects: Animals; Brain Injuries, Traumatic - genetics; Disease Models, Animal; Humans; Nerve Degeneration - genetics; Proteomics
• ISSN: 1473-6551
• DOI: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000613

The underlying mechanisms responsible for chronic and progressive neurological damage after traumatic brain injury (TBI) are poorly understood, and therefore, current treatment options are limited. Proteomics is an emerging methodology to study changes to the TBI proteome in both patients and experimental models. Although experimentally complex, mass spectrometry-based proteomics approaches are converging on a set of common methods. However, these methods are being applied to an increasingly diverse range of experimental models and types of injury. In this review, our aim is to briefly describe experimental TBI models and the underlying methods common to most proteomic approaches. We will then review a series of articles that have recently appeared in which these approaches have been applied to important TBI questions. We will summarize several recent experimental studies, and suggest how the results of these emerging studies might impact future research as well as patient treatment.