This paper is a comprehensive research article from Nature Medicine detailing a large-scale plasma proteomics analysis of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), specifically Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Researchers leveraged data from the Global Neurodegeneration Proteomics Consortium (GNPC) to identify shared and disease-specific protein alterations across over 10,000 plasma samples. The study employed linear regression, pathway enrichment, and network analyses to map the proteomic landscape of these disorders, revealing common disruptions in the immune system, glycolysis, and the extracellular matrix, alongside unique mechanisms like apoptotic processes in AD, ER-Phagosome impairment in PD, and platelet dysregulation in FTD. Finally, the findings were used to develop highly disease-specific biomarker panels for differential diagnosis, confirming distinct and overlapping molecular signatures among the NDs.

References:

• Ali M, Erabadda B, Chen Y, et al. Shared and disease-specific pathways in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases[J]. Nature Medicine, 2025: 1-11.