The proteomic toolbox for studying cerebrospinal fluid

Abstract

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be considered the most promising biosample for the discovery and analysis of biomarkers in neuroscience, an area of great medical need. CSF is a body fluid that surrounds the brain and provides a rich pool of biochemical markers, both proteomic and metabolomic, that reflect the state of neurological processes. Such biomarkers can either serve as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers to improve the characterization of patients and preclinical disease models, or can be used to demonstrate drug-related exposure and efficacy. Here, we describe the proteomic toolbox for studying CSF from a drug-discovery perspective, and the trends and challenges that lie ahead.