Proteomics in environmental pollution research: Advances, challenges, and future directions.

Chuzhong Wei; Bin Zeng; Xianghong Zhou; Bolai Qing; Linghui Deng; Yuwei Wu; Weichao Huang; Zilong Zhang; Yuming Jin; Shuai Peng; Cheng Zhang; Shi Qiu

doi:10.1016/j.jprot.2026.105693

PubMed · 42276166

Proteomics in environmental pollution research: Advances, challenges, and future directions.

Chuzhong Wei·Bin Zeng·Xianghong Zhou·Bolai Qing·Linghui Deng·Yuwei Wu·Weichao Huang·Zilong Zhang·Yuming Jin·Shuai Peng·Cheng Zhang·Shi Qiu

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Abstract

Environmental proteomics has emerged as a powerful approach for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying pollutant-induced biological effects. Although this field has developed rapidly, the systematic review of recent proteomics applications in environmental pollution research remains limited. This review explored the emerging roles of toxicoproteomics in biomarker discovery and mechanistic elucidation, as well as ecotoxicoproteomics in ecological risk assessment and bioremediation strategies. Here, we review the field, highlighting recent trends such as the integration of proteomics with genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics to provide a comprehensive view of biological responses to environmental stressors. We further discuss the growing application of artificial intelligence in improving proteomics data interpretation and accelerating biomarker discovery. In addition, recent technological advances in environmental proteomics are highlighted, including next-generation tissue microarray proteomics, nanoscale proteomics, single-cell proteomics, and spatial proteomics. Despite its potential, proteomics faces challenges, such as high operational costs, computational complexity in analysis, and technical limitations in low-abundance protein detection. We propose that the convergence of proteomics with artificial intelligence and multi-omics approaches offers promising solutions to these challenges, enhancing the practical application of proteomics in environmental monitoring and risk assessment.

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Proteomics Environmental Pollution Environmental Monitoring Humans Multiomics Artificial Intelligence Animals Artificial intelligence Environmental pollution Mass spectrometry Multi-omics integration Proteomics techniques Journal Article Systematic Review

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Chuzhong Wei, Bin Zeng, Xianghong Zhou, Bolai Qing, Linghui Deng, Yuwei Wu, Weichao Huang, Zilong Zhang, Yuming Jin, Shuai Peng, Cheng Zhang, Shi Qiu. 2026-06-11. Proteomics in environmental pollution research: Advances, challenges, and future directions.. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jprot.2026.105693

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