Proteomics and metabolomics for mechanistic insights and biomarker discovery in cardiovascular disease

In the last decade, proteomics and metabolomics have contributed substantially to our understanding of cardiovascular diseases. The unbiased assessment of pathophysiological processes without a priori assumptions complements other molecular biology techniques that are currently used in a reductionist approach. In this review, we highlight some of the "omics" methods used to assess protein and metabolite changes in cardiovascular disease. A discrete biological function is very rarely attributed to a single molecule; more often it is the combined input of many proteins. In contrast to the reductionist approach, in which molecules are studied individually, "omics" platforms allow the study of more complex interactions in biological systems. Combining proteomics and metabolomics to quantify changes in metabolites and their corresponding enzymes will advance our understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms and aid the identification of novel biomarkers for cardiovascular disease.