BACKGROUND Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) has been implicated in development of osteoarthritis (OA). OBJECTIVE To determine the correlation between plasma and synovial fluid CTGF levels and the severity in knee osteoarthritis patients. METHODS A total of 100 subjects were recruited into this study (75 OA patients and 25 controls). CTGF concentrations in plasma and synovial fluid wer...

The cause of fibrotic disease is unknown. We have undertaken transcriptional profiling of dermal fibroblasts cultured from patients with the fibrotic disease scleroderma (systemic sclerosis, SSc) to identify genes overexpressed in fibrosis and have explored their contribution to the fibrotic phenotype. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF, CCN2), a member of the CCN family of proteins, is over...

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), which is encoded by an immediate early gene and a member of the CCN family, has been shown to be expressed in osteoblasts, fibroblasts, and chondrocytes. Although CTGF is expressed in bone and cartilage tissues, we tested the hypothesis that CTGF is regulated in mechanotransduction. In the alveolar bone during experimental tooth movement, CTGF mRNA was ex...

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent angiogenic mitogen, plays a crucial role in angiogenesis under various pathophysiological conditions. We have recently demonstrated that VEGF(165), one of the VEGF isoforms, binds connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and that its angiogenic activity is inhibited in the VEGF(165).CTGF complex form (Inoki, I., Shiomi, T., Hashimoto, G., Enomot...

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) is a member of the CCN family of secreted proteins that are believed to play an important role in the development of neoplasia. In particular, CTGF has been reported to play an important role in mammary tumorigenesis and to have prognostic value in female breast cancer (FBC). The aim of the present study was to investigate clinicopathologic correlatio...

BACKGROUND This study was designed to improve our understanding of the role of miR-18a and its target (connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), which are mediators in HBX-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). MATERIAL AND METHODS We first investigated the expression of several candidate microRNAs (miRNAs) reported to have been aberrantly expressed between HepG2 and HepG2.2.15, which is charact...

Previous studies have demonstrated that loss of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) in stromal cells drives the activation of the TGF-β signaling, with increased transcription of TGF-β target genes, such as connective tissue growth factor (CTGF). In addition, loss of stromal Cav-1 results in the metabolic reprogramming of cancer-associated fibroblasts, with the induction of autophagy and glycolysis. However, it...

BACKGROUND Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Although the involvement of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) has been well-documented in SSc fibrosis, the therapeutic potential of targeting CTGF in SSc has not been fully investigated. Our aim was to examine the therapeutic potential of CTGF blockade in a preclinical model of SSc using...

OBJECTIVE Atherosclerotic blood vessels overexpress connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) mRNA, but the role of CTGF in atherosclerosis remains controversial. To assess the hypothesis that CTGF is involved in atherosclerotic plaque progression, we investigated CTGF protein expression and distribution in the different types of plaque morphology. METHODS AND RESULTS Serial cross-sections of 45...