Fetuins are among the major plasma proteins, yet their biological role has remained elusive. Here we report the molecular cloning of rat fetuin and the sequence analysis of a full-length clone, RF619 of 1456 bp with an open reading frame of 1056 bp encoding 352 amino acid residues. The coding part of RF619 was identical with the cDNA sequence of the natural inhibitor of the insulin receptor tyr...

OBJECTIVE We investigated whether the concentration of the glycoprotein fetuin A is altered in the second trimester amniotic fluid of trisomy 21 pregnancies compared with euploid pregnancies. METHODS 25 pregnancies with an extra chromosome 21 were matched for maternal and gestational age with 25 pregnancies with normal karyotype. Levels of fetuin A in amniotic fluid were measured by a commerc...

Examination of apoptotic cell surface molecules has so far failed to reveal cell type-specific membrane alterations that serve as a signal for phagocytosis. In the present study we have identified a novel murine monoclonal antibody, BOB93, which bound to the surface of apoptotic neutrophils but not to apoptotic lymphocytes. BOB93 binding to apoptotic neutrophils was dependent on the presence of...

OBJECTIVE To study the association of serum fetuin-A as a potential risk factor with abnormal albuminuria in Chinese individuals with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The cross-sectional analysis included 607 men and 1,042 women aged 40 or older with NGT. RESULTS Women with combined microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria (n=68) had significantly higher serum fetuin...

In the current issue of Circulation, Ix et al demonstrate an inverse correlation between mitral and aortic valve calcification and serum fetuin-A levels in a cross-sectional study of 970 patients with coronary artery disease and without renal disease.1 Increased serum fetuin was significantly associated with diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia, serum albumin, and body mass index, with a wea...

In earlier papers we described the presence and properties of a factor in the fetuin fraction of fetal calf serum which promotes growth of mammalian cells in vitro and enhances their stretching on glass and other surfaces.1 Fetuin is an alpha-globulin, obtained by fractional precipitation with ammonium sulfate, whose major component is a glycoprotein of molecular weight 45,000.1 A synthetic med...

Fetuin-A is a liver secretory glycoprotein that has been linked to the development of insulin resistance in animal models (1). Recent work suggests that free fatty acids (FFAs) and fetuin-A interact to induce insulin resistance in animal models (1) and humans (2). However, short-term overfeeding increases peripheral insulin resistance without significant increases in the levels of circulating F...

Fetuin A is a major systemic inhibitor of vascular calcifications. The aim this study was to examine association single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the gene for fetuin-A with serum levels, coronary arteries calcification (CAC) and mortality renal transplant (RT) chronic kidney (CKD) patients. This included 88 patients (42 stable RT at least 6 months after transplantation 46 CKD patients, ...

Infection and injury are two seemingly unrelated processes that often converge on common innate inflammatory responses mediated by pathogen- or damage-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs or DAMPs). If dysregulated, an excessive inflammation manifested by the overproduction and release of proinflammatory mediators (e.g., TNF, IFN-γ, and HMGB1) may adversely lead to many pathogenic consequences....