Proteomics as a new paradigm to tackle Parkinson’s disease research challenges

Disease-modifying therapies capable to stop or slow Parkinson’s disease (PD) progression are still elusive due to severe shortcomings in the understanding of PD etiopathogenesis as well as limitations in routine clinically-based diagnosis precluding PD detection during its early course. Proteomics has recently emerged as one of the most attractive approaches to unravel the complex nature of PD processes and investigate PD potential biomarkers. In contrast to traditional candidate-based studies, it offers global and high-throughput strategies to systematically analyze proteins – the pathological effectors themselves – without the need to establish a priori hypotheses. This review aims to summarize the latest advances in PD research in the context of proteomics. After an overview of some methodological aspects, the most recent PD-related findings will be discussed together with the limitations and perspectives of current proteomic workflows.