Figure 1. A schematic of how mass spectrometry-based proteomics could be used in analyzing different biospecimens for different organs in the discovery and validation of clinically useful biomarkers.

Once the potential biomarker molecules are identified, they could be validated through a larger patient cohort and subsequently by a clinical trial.

BALF: Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; MS: Mass spectrometry; SRM: Selected reaction monitoring.