Proteomic landscape of Alzheimer's disease: emerging technologies, advances and insights (2021 - 2025)

The advancements of proteomics technologies are shaping Alzheimer's disease (AD) research, revealing new molecular insights and improving biomarker discovery. Here, we summarize major AD proteomics studies since our 2021 review, focusing on disease mechanisms and biomarker identification. Enhanced sensitivity and throughput in proteome profiling have been driven by mass spectrometry (MS)-based approaches and affinity-based platforms (e.g., Olink and SomaScan). Emerging techniques, including single-cell, spatial, and single-molecule proteomics, provide unprecedented resolution in studying cellular heterogeneity and pathological microenvironments (e.g., amyloidome). Multi-cohort analyses of AD brain tissues have revealed consensus protein alterations (n = 866), identifying novel disease-associated proteins validated in functional studies (e.g., MDK/PTN, NTN1, SMOC1, GPNMB, NPTX2, NRN1, VGF, and U1 snRNP). Proteomic studies of AD biofluids have identified distinct disease subtypes, offering candidate proteins for early detection. Comparisons between human tissues and AD mouse models highlight shared pathways in amyloid pathology while underscoring limitations in recapitulating human disease. Combining proteomics with genomics enables protein quantitative trait locus (pQTL) analysis in AD, linking genetic risk factors to protein expression changes. Discrepancies between proteome and transcriptome suggest altered protein turnover in AD. Overall, AD proteomics continues to provide mechanistic insights into disease progression and potential biomarkers for precision medicine.