Proteomic profiling reveals biomarkers and pathways in type 2 diabetes risk.

Recent advances in proteomic technologies have made high-throughput profiling of low-abundance proteins in large epidemiological cohorts increasingly feasible. We investigated whether aptamer-based proteomic profiling could identify biomarkers associated with future development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) beyond known risk factors. We identified dozens of markers with highly significant associations with future T2DM across 2 large longitudinal cohorts (n = 2839) followed for up to 16 years.

Circulating testican-2 is a podocyte-derived marker of kidney health.

In addition to their fundamental role in clearance, the kidneys release select molecules into the circulation, but whether any of these anabolic functions provides insight on kidney health is unknown. Using aptamer-based proteomics, we characterized arterial (A)-to-renal venous (V) gradients for >1,300 proteins in 22 individuals who underwent invasive sampling. Although most of the proteins that changed significantly decreased from A to V, consistent with renal clearance, several were found to increase, the most significant of which was testican-2.