Blood Cell Proteomics in Chronic Kidney Disease

The uremic syndrome mimes a systemic poisoning with the retention of numerous compounds which are normally removed by the kidney. The study of proteins and peptides, or proteomics, represents an important field of research for the investigation of blood and blood diseases. We focused our review on the results of proteomic investigations on blood cells of uremic patients with particular regard to the study of red blood cells, platelets, and monocytes. In literature there are few, preliminary studies on platelets and monocytes while the knowledge on uremic erythrocytes is much wider. Proteomic investigations showed that erythrocyte membrane proteome of uremic patients, differs significantly from the proteome of healthy subjects, being characterized by an extensive remodeling which may influence visco-elastic properties of RBC such as deformability and involve diverse molecular pathways driving red blood cell signaling and removal. Proteomic technologies emerged as a useful tool in defining and characterizing both physiological and disease processes being able, among others, to give important insights into uremic anemia.