Large-scale identification of protein biomarkers and therapeutic targets in heart and brain disease - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #protein biomarkers
- #neurobiology
- #cardiovascular disease
- Neurological issues often worsen outcomes in cardiovascular disease patients, highlighting a heart-brain connection.
- Study used data from UK Biobank: 53,014 individuals with plasma proteomics, 50,228 with cardiac and brain MRI imaging.
- Identified 404 proteins linked to cardiac imaging phenotypes, 76 to brain imaging phenotypes, and 37 overlapping both.
- Proteins likely originate from fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and macrophages in arterial vasculature based on expression analysis.
- Pathway analysis shows cardiac-associated proteins relate to cytokine and vascular processes, while brain-associated ones involve extracellular matrix pathways.
- Mendelian randomization and genetic colocalization indicate causal roles for over 63% of these proteins in disease pathogenesis.
- Over 90% of identified proteins are new candidates for biomarkers or therapeutic targets, offering a research catalog.