Comprehensive portfolio of CNS biomarker products and services
Disorders of the Central Nervous System (CNS) represent a growing socioeconomic burden worldwide, both in terms of numbers of patients and in cost to healthcare systems. The trend is for an ever increasing and aging population with greater life spans than previous generations, but with resultant large increases in the number of people suffering from diseases of the CNS such as dementia and stroke.
Consequently there is an urgent need for improved diagnostics and prognostics for these CNS related diseases, with respect to sensitivity, accuracy and cost. Proteome Sciences is at the forefront of development of novel biomarkers, assays and innovative technologies for diagnosis and the measurement of disease progression which aid in drug development programs and in the monitoring of patients.
At the core of Proteome Sciences' technologies and expertise, is a first-in-class mass spectrometry capability for the detection and accurate quantitation of CNS disease-specific biomarkers. Many assays utilize Proteome Sciences’ proprietary Tandem Mass Tag® (TMT®) labeling technology to ensure the most accurate and consistent results expected by today’s researchers.
Proteome Sciences is investing significant resources and revenues into research and development of useful, novel biomarkers for CNS diseases. Disease areas of particular focus are:
Alzheimer's Disease,
Stroke and
Brain Damage.
Learn more about the numerous CNS biomarker projects and target discovery and validation projects at Proteome Sciences.
Biomarker Services
With its long and successful track record of biomarker discovery and leading proteomics reagents and mass spectrometry platforms, Proteome Sciences is a preferred provider of services for biomarker and target-related proteomics services to the pharmaceutical and diagnostic sectors.
For more information on CNS biomarker detection panels and services, please click on the links below:
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Within the CNS therapeutic area Proteome Sciences looks at the neurological damage caused by CNS disorders and the body’s response to this damage. We are particularly active in finding biomarkers for neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases and the spongiform encephalopathies as well as the brain cell death that occurs in stroke, sub-arachnoid haemorrhage and traumatic brain injury. In addition, we are applying our powerful proteomic analysis tools to the study of key pathogenic processes within these disease areas to identify new targets and assess the mode of action of novel therapeutic agents.
Biomarker Projects
From the outset we have been focused on finding circulating biomarkers that can be readily detected in blood. In most cases we have performed biomarker discovery directly in blood but have also made extensive use of a deceased CSF model of brain damage developed with our partners at the University of Geneva.
Over the last 15 years our research has led to the discovery, validation and qualification of several panels of biomarkers for CNS disorders, which are all subject to comprehensive patent filings. All of the research has been performed in partnership with Key Opinion Leaders in the relevant clinical and academic research centers and the results widely published in peer reviewed journals and through presentations at scientific conferences.
These biomarkers have applications in the early detection and diagnosis of CNS disorders, predicting and/or documenting the progression of untreated disease and monitoring the effects of treatment.
Key biomarker panels include:
- A panel of >30 blood proteins in Alzheimer’s disease for early diagnosis, prediction of disease progression rates and monitoring of treatment with disease modifying drugs
- A panel of three proteins detectable in blood for the exclusion of patients from a diagnosis of stroke for use in primary care
- A panel of three proteins detectable in blood for the inclusion of patients with a stroke at the Emergency Room
- A panel of >200 proteins representing general neurological damage identified in cerebrospinal fluid
- A panel of 20 markers for monitoring brain damage related disorders such as stroke, sub-arachnoid haemorrhage and traumatic brain injury
- A panel of 25 proteins for predicting and monitoring the rate of progression of neurological deficit in Huntington’s disease
- A panel of >15 proteins for the diagnosis and monitoring of progression of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and other spongiform encephalopathies
Target Discovery & Validation Projects
We have applied our core proteomics technologies to the analysis of key pathological proteins in the amyloidogenic CNS disorders with a particular emphasis on the aggregated Tau protein in Alzheimer’s disease. By providing the most extensive map of Tau phosphorylation found in Alzheimer’s disease (published in Hanger et al. 2006) we confirmed several protein kinases as relevant targets in AD as well as identifying Casein Kinase 1 delta as a putative new target. This approach can be applied to other CNS disorders characterised by aggregating protein deposits such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple scelerosis, vascular dementia and the broad group of other Tauopathies.
Key target discovery milestones:
- Comprehensive map of 39 phosphorylation sites on PHF Tau in human AD brains
- Mass spectrometry assays to measure 10 key Tau phosphorylation sites and total Tau simultaneously
- Identification of CK1d as target Tau kinase in AD
- Initiation of in silico screen against CK1d and selection of initial lead compound series
- Mapping of other post-translational modifications on aggregating proteins in CNS disorders
- Strong inhibition of cellular Tau phosphorylation by our first lead compounds against Ck1d
