Proteomics of Human Lipoproteins in Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of global mortality. However, the current method of assessing cardiovascular risk through clinical pathways is insufficient, leaving a significant amount of unexplained residual risk. To address this, a promising approach is to simultaneously evaluate a large number of plasma proteins, particularly lipoprotein-associated proteins. With recent technological advancements, proteomics can now conduct high-throughput protein analysis in a reproducible and cost-effective manner. Proteomics can identify and quantify hundreds of candidate marker proteins in a sample, translating from isolated lipoproteins to whole plasma, providing an individual multiplexed proteomic fingerprint. This chapter delves into the pathophysiological roles of lipoproteins and recent mass-spectrometry-based proteomic characterization and quantitation advancements to better refine CVD risk assessment.