Biochemical
and Bioimaging Endpoints in Cardiocerebrovascular Diagnosis,
Prevention, Therapy and Drug Development
GLOSSARY
To
facilitate the dialogue among the multidisciplinary scientists,
definition of the acronyms and of more specialized terms have been
reported.
Every amendment is welcome.
By: Andrea P. Peracino
Stefano Bellosta
Nicola Ferri
Riccardo Roggeri
Osteopontin - OPN, produced by osteoblasts is a glycosylated phosphoprotein with a high acidic amino acid content a. It is thought that osteopontin may act as a bridge between osteoblasts and the apatite mineral of the bone Osteopontin-K is a kidney protein, similar to osteopontin and probably also involved in cell adhesion . It binds calcium and interacts with the vitronectin receptor, avbeta3 integrin. It has been shown to bind covalently to fibronectin via transglutaminase-catalyzed cross-linking. In vivo, elevation in OPN levels are seen during sepsis and metastatic cancers.
