Molecular Biomarkers: A Brief Review - Molecular Biomarkers: A Brief Review - Open Access Pub

DOI 10.14302/issn.2326-0793.jpgr-18-2418 Biomarkers represent a significant area of research and clinical applications. Pub-Med search have shown more than 879,000 publications that used word “Biomarker”. The global biomarkers market is estimated to reach USD 53.34 Billion by 2021 from USD 27.95 Billion in 2016, at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 13.8% from 2016 to 2021*. * By: marketsandmarkets.com; Publishing Date: February 2017; Report Code: BT 2120 What are biomarkers? As stated by the definition of National Institute of Health “Biomarker is a characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biological processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacological responses to a therapeutic intervention” 1. Biomarkers can be separated into several groups based on a) their characteristics: imaging biomarkers, and molecular biomarkers; b) their applications: diagnostic biomarkers, and drug-related biomarkers 2. They can include specific cells, molecules, genes, gene products, enzymes and hormones. Molecular biomarkers are biomarkers that were discovered and analyzed by genomics and proteomics. Both genomics and proteomics (as well as transcriptomics {analysis of RNA transcripts}) are combined into Proteogenomics. In addition, other platforms used for the molecular biomarkers identification include: metabolomics (analysis of metabolites), lipidomics (analysis of lipids), glycomics (analysis of polysaccharides) (Figure 1). Despite biomarkers ability to trace environmental contaminants, our major interest lies in using them for the evaluation of the disease status. Every biological system has its own specific biomarkers. Many of us went through routine medical examination, which included the measurement of the level of biomarkers, such as cholesterol or glucose. However, the most important role of biomarkers is the role they play in the diagnosis and prediction or prognosis of diseases, as well as in serving as a target for drugs development. Figure 1. Biomarkers identification.MS, Mass Spectrometry (including LC-MS, SELDI-TOF, MALDI-TOF, etc.); NMR, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy; MRM, Multiple Reaction Monitoring; SAGE, Serial Analysis of Gene Expression; SDS-PAGE, Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis; 2D-PAGE,2 Dimensional-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis; WB, Western blot. At present, many biomarkers are detected and used in clinical practice but new ones still need to be investigated. Finding new biomarkers is especially important for “complex” diseases with non-clear or multifactorial