Integration of Omics Approaches and Systems Biology for Clinical Applications

Book excerpt: Introduces readers to the state of the art of omics platforms and all aspects of omics approaches for clinical applications This book presents different high throughput omics platforms used to analyze tissue, plasma, and urine. The reader is introduced to state of the art analytical approaches (sample preparation and instrumentation) related to proteomics, peptidomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics. In addition, the book highlights innovative approaches using bioinformatics, urine miRNAs, and MALDI tissue imaging in the context of clinical applications. Particular emphasis is put on integration of data generated from these different platforms in order to uncover the molecular landscape of diseases. The relevance of each approach to the clinical setting is explained and future applications for patient monitoring or treatment are discussed. Integration of omics Approaches and Systems Biology for Clinical Applications presents an overview of state of the art omics techniques. These methods are employed in order to obtain the comprehensive molecular profile of biological specimens. In addition, computational tools are used for organizing and integrating these multi-source data towards developing molecular models that reflect the pathophysiology of diseases. Investigation of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and bladder cancer are used as test cases. These represent multi-factorial, highly heterogeneous diseases, and are among the most significant health issues in developed countries with a rapidly aging population. The book presents novel insights on CKD and bladder cancer obtained by omics data integration as an example of the application of systems biology in the clinical setting. Describes a range of state of the art omics analytical platforms Covers all aspects of the systems biology approach—from sample preparation to data integration and bioinformatics analysis Contains specific examples of omics methods applied in the investigation of human diseases (Chronic Kidney Disease, Bladder Cancer) Integration of omics Approaches and Systems Biology for Clinical Applications will appeal to a wide spectrum of scientists including biologists, biotechnologists, biochemists, biophysicists, and bioinformaticians working on the different molecular platforms. It is also an excellent text for students interested in these fields.