Biomarkers defined

Wandall HH, Blixt O, Tarp MA et al (2010) Cancer biomarkers defined by autoantibody signatures to aberrant O-glycopeptide epitopes. Cancer Res 70 1306-1313... 

The ultimate model is the human in the clinical situation. Translational medicine with noninvasive imaging techniques and biomarkers is now able to furnish valuable information that can be used in the initial discovery process to produce better defined drugs. 

In humans, biomarker responses to PPAR agonists by and large support possible antiatherosclerotic benefits, although recent clinical trial results have not proven conclusive. Further large-scale trials should help define the role of PPAR agonist therapy on cardiovascular events in at-risk populations. 

Biomarkers are broadly defined as indicators signaling events in biologic systems or samples. They have been classified as markers of exposure, markers of effect, and markers of susceptibility (NAS/NRC 1989). 

A biomarker is here defined as a biological response to an environmental chemical at the individual level or below, which demonstrates a departure from normality. Responses at higher levels of biological organization are not, according to this definition, termed biomarkers. Where such biological responses can be readily measnred, they may provide the basis for biomarker assays, which can be nsed to stndy the effects of chemicals in the laboratory or, most importantly, in the field. There is also interest in their employment as tools for the environmental risk assessment of chemicals. 

The relationship between biomarker responses and effects at the population level can be tested in both field experiments and more controlled experiments in mesocosms. It may be possible to define thresholds for biomarker assays performed on indicator species, above which population effects have been shown to occur. Indicator species may be either free living or deployed. The advantage of the latter is... 

Apart from the use of this approach to study the ecotoxicology of neurotoxic pollutants in the field, it also has potential for use during the course of environmental risk assessment. An understanding of the relationship between biomarker responses to neurotoxic compounds and effects at the population level can be gained from both field studies and the use of mesocosms and other model systems. From these it may be possible to define critical thresholds in biomarker responses of indicator species above which population effects begin to appear. In the longer term, this approach... 

Gustin, DM, Rodvold KA, Sosman JA et al. 2004. Single-does pharmakinetic study of lycopene delivered in a well-defined food-based lycopene delivery system (tomato pasted-oil mixture) in healthy adult male subjects. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 13(5) 850-860. 

Many diseases are characterized by the expression of specific proteins1 in some cases, malignant cells yield unique protein profiles when total cellular protein extracts are analyzed by proteomic methods such as two-dimensional gel electrophoresis or matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS).2 High-throughput proteomic studies may be useful to differentiate normal cells from cancer cells, to identify and define the use of biomarkers for specific cancers, and to characterize the clinical course of disease. Proteomics can also be used to isolate and characterize potential drug targets and to evaluate the efficacy of treatments. 

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