Fetuin, the bovine alpha-fetoprotein, contains glycopeptide sequences similar to those found on red cells. As a result, it is capable of strong physical interaction with the phytohemagglutinin isomitogens (H-PHAP) which possess two or more R (red cell binding) subunits as part of their tetrameric structures. Fetuin shows little or no interaction with L-PHAP, a phytohemagglutinin made up of four...

We report here the development of a thermal responsive affinity ligand specific to sialic acid, sialic acid containing oligosaccharides, glycoproteins, and other sialylated glycoconjugates. The ligand is a fusion protein of 40 repeats of pentapeptide of an elastin like polymer (ELP) and the 21 kD sialic acid binding domain of a Vibrio cholera neuraminidase (VCNA). For cost-effective synthesis, ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Osteoprotegerin (OPG) and fetuin-A are vascular calcification regulators that may be related to high cardiovascular (CV) mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. We evaluated the relationship between OPG, fetuin-A, and pulse wave velocity (PWV), a marker of vascular stiffness, and determined whether OPG and fetuin-A were independent predictors of CV events in HD patients. METH...

Normal and immune sera from various animal species were fractionated on columns of Sepharose covalently coupled with the glycoprotein fetuin. Elution of the material bound to fetuin yielded low but reproducible amounts of protein, ranging from 0.02 to 0.2% of the protein mass of the input sera. This material has been identified by immunoelectrophoresis in agar and by zone electrophoresis on cel...

The Healthy Eating Index-2010 (HEI-2010) assesses compliance with the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Studies suggest that adherence to the HEI-2010 is related to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Fetuin-A, a novel biomarker for T2D, may play a linking role in the inverse association between HEI-2010 and T2D. Thus, a case-control analysis involving 107 patients with T2D and107 hea...

Rosette formation with unsensitized sheep erythrocytes is a characteristic of human thymus dependent lymphocytes. Release of glycopeptides from the sheep erythrocyte by trypsin reduces rosette formation. These tryptic glycopeptides inhibit rosette formation by untrypsinized sheep erythrocytes; this suggests that rosetting is mediated by erythrocyte surface glycopeptides. To investigate the mole...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Vascular calcification and endothelial dysfunction contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Sevelamer, a non-calcium-based phosphate binder, has been shown to attenuate cardiovascular calcification in CKD patients, although the exact mechanism has not been clarified. This study was designed to investigate th...

BACKGROUND Possible roles of anti-inflammatory factors as well as total antioxidative capacity in reproductive processes of women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) are still being investigated and the contributions by some of them remain controversial. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between anti-inflammatory parameters and total antioxidative capacity...

Although dietary phosphate restriction is important for treating hyperphosphatemia in patients with chronic kidney disease, it remains unclear whether a low-protein diet (LPD), which contains low phosphate, has beneficial effects on malnutrition, inflammation, and vascular calcification. The effects of LPD on inflammation, malnutrition, and vascular calcification were therefore assessed in rats...

The glycoproteins possessing antiviral and anti-proliferative activities were isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb Smilax glabra (known as tufuling), by extraction with 0.2 M NaCl, ammonium sulfate precipitation, fetuin-agarose affinity chromatography and gel filtration. The molecular mass of the fetuin-binding glycoprotein (designated SGPF2) was estimated to be about 58 kDa, with a major p...