OTHER FUNCTIONS-ANTIBODY PROTEOMICS FOR MEASURING LIPOPROTEIN SUB-POPULATIONS

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality and both high LDL-C and low HDL-C remain validated factors that predict and contribute to risk. Reliance on the lipid, cholesterol, as the surrogate marker to measure total LDL and HDL has limitations and provides inadequate understanding. Lipoproteins are heterogeneous populations of particles whose physiochemical properties are dictated by the sum of their lipid and protein constituents. A fact infers that for particles capable of physical separation, a difference in their lipidomic and proteomic content must exist. Given that each lipoprotein particle contains a limited set of associating proteome members, analytical methodologies can take advantage of those proteins with restricted particle population distributions. Utilizing these proteins as markers for selective particle sub populations provide a means for quantify them. The novel technology offered in this proposal uses the diversity of the lipoprotein proteome to identify and measure sub-populations directly from a plasma sample. This approach measures multiple proteome members simultaneously in a multiplex assay format and generates a lipoprotein fingerprint . These snapshots can be used to assess cardiovascular health by monitoring lipoprotein population dynamics and characterize the differences resulting from genetic disposition, disease and therapeutic intervention.