Serum biomarkers and bioinformatics of Alzheimer's disease based on LC-MS/MS proteomics

To identify potential serum proteins that might serve as biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD), we performed comparative proteomic profiling of sera from AD and healthy control subjects using label-free LC-MS/MS. Our study identified 387 proteins, 61 of which showed significant changes in the serum of AD patients compared to healthy controls. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis showed that some GO terms related to the pathogenesis of AD were significantly enriched in differentially expressed proteins, including cholesterol and lipid metabolism, inflammation, coagulation and hemostasis processes, and immune responses. Therefore, based on the above results and the consistency of protein content changes in the 8 comparison groups, 18 proteins were selected as candidate biomarkers. Protein-protein interaction results suggest that these 18 proteins can directly or indirectly interact with APP. Therefore, changes in the levels or functions of these proteins may affect Aβ metabolism and participate in the occurrence of AD, and have the potential to become AD blood biomarkers.