Biomarkers of Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Key to Disease Diagnosis and Management.

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a dangerous disease caused by a spectrum of bacterial and viral pathogens. The choice of specific therapy and the need for hospitalization or transfer to the intensive care unit are determined by the causative agent and disease severity. The microbiological analysis of sputum largely depends on the quality of the material obtained. The prediction of severity and the duration of therapy are determined individually, and existing prognostic scales are used generally. This review examines the possibilities of using specific serological biomarkers to detect the bacterial or viral aetiology of CAP and to assess disease severity. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of biomarker signatures and the discovery of biomarker candidates for a single multiplex analysis.

Why 3-D? Gel-based microarrays in proteomics.

Gel-based microarrays (biochips) consisting of nanoliter and sub-nanoliter gel drops on hydrophobic substrate are a versatile technology platform for immobilization of proteins and other biopolymers. Biochips provide a highly hydrophilic environment, which stabilizes immobilized molecules and facilitates their interactions with analytes. The probes are immobilized simultaneously with gel polymerization, evenly distributed throughout individual elements, and are easily accessible because of large pores. Each element is an isolated nanotube. Applications of biochips in the studies of protein interactions with other proteins, nucleic acids, and glycans are described. In particular, biochips are compatible with MALDI-MS. Biochip-based assay of prostate-specific antigen became the first protein microarray approved for clinical use by a national regulatory agency. In this review, 3-D immobilization is compared with mainstream technologies based on surface immobilization.