Keywords: systemic sclerosis, biomarkers, proteomics, gene expression profiling In this review, we highlight the most recent findings in biomarkers used to characterize SSc organ involvement, to stratify the patients, and to assess the response to treatment. A proteomic approach does not need prior knowledge of the proteins or of their function, but it requires high-performance and time-consuming techniques. The proof-of-concept approach verifies the ability of known proteins, generally involved in the pathogenesis, to correlate with disease phenotype and outcome. Two principal approaches exist to discover and characterize biomarkers. The production of inflammatory cytokines and growth factors after tissue injury, as well as the presence of circulating autoantibodies, provide a source of biomarkers with potential diagnostic and prognostic applications in the clinical routine. Immune activation and microangiopathy are followed by widespread organ fibrosis, leading to organ failure and increased mortality. The etiology and pathogenesis of SSc remain unclear, despite recent significant progress in the field. Francesco Bonella, 1 Giuseppe Patuzzo, 2 Claudio Lunardi 2ġInterstitial and Rare Lung Disease Unit, Ruhrlandklinik University Hospital, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany 2Department of Medicine, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyĪbstract: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease characterized by immune dysfunction and by abnormalities of the microvasculature with vascular obliteration, eventually leading to fibrosis of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, lungs, heart, and kidney.
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