Complementary gene and protein expression studies and integrative approaches in toxicogenomics

Parallel transcript and protein profiling is a strategy to gain further insight into the mechanisms of toxicity and disease. The technologies used to measure expression at the transcript and protein levels each convey different information and have different technical capabilities that can complement each other when combined. In this review, over twenty studies are considered for the use of -Omics platform, the chemical or disease being profiled, tissues, the number of genes and proteins found by each platform and common expression products. A strategy is suggested for toxicant expression profiling that combines the transcriptomics and proteomics of both the target tissue and blood/serum that could provide a more complete characterization of toxicity as well as synergize expression technologies toward biomarker discovery.