Systems Biology Techniques to Understand Disease Mechanisms and Develop Biomarker Panels
Metabolic profiles in hippocampal brain tissue in control and Alzheimer's model mice
The image above demonstrates that metabolic profiles in hippocampal brain tissue acquired using metabolomics differ between control mice and Alzheimer's disease model mice. The partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) score plots showing distinct metabolomic profiles of female Alzheimer's disease mice with familial mutations in PS1, APP and APP-PS1 compared with nontransgenic (NTG) littermates.
The Mayo Clinic Mitochondrial Neurobiology and Therapeutics Lab applies systems biology techniques to understand the disease mechanisms and to develop biomarker panels.
Dr. Trushina's research team is exploring the application of multiple systems biology approaches — including proteomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics and metabolomics — to establish signatures of disease conditions in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, metabolic disorders and aging. The signatures established by the lab will be useful for improving the understanding of disease mechanisms and for diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring of therapeutic efficacy.
Dr. Trushina's team worked with the Mayo Clinic Metabolomics Resource Core to demonstrate that application of metabolomics could detect early changes associated with altered energy utilization, mitochondrial function and energetic stress in blood, cerebrospinal fluid and fibroblasts from patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, and in multiple mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.