Osteopontin (OPN) is involved in a variety of biological processes, including bone remodeling, innate immunity, acute and chronic inflammation, and cancer. The expression of OPN occurs in various tissues and cells, including intestinal epithelial cells and immune cells such as macrophages, dendritic cells, and T lymphocytes. OPN plays an important role in the efficient development of T helper 1...

Osteopontin (OPN) is characterized as a major amplifier of Th1-immune responses. However, its role in intestinal inflammation is currently unknown. We found considerably raised OPN levels in blood of wild-type (WT) mice with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. To identify the role of this mediator in intestinal inflammation, we analysed experimental colitis in OPN-deficient (OPN(-/-))...

Schistosomiasis is a major cause of portal hypertension worldwide. It associates with portal fibrosis that develops during chronic infection. The mechanisms by which the pathogen evokes these host responses remain unclear. We evaluated the hypothesis that schistosome eggs release factors that directly stimulate liver cells to produce osteopontin (OPN), a pro-fibrogenic protein that stimulates h...

Focal brain ischemia induces inflammation, extracellular matrix remodeling, gliosis, and neovascularization. Osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted glycoprotein that has been implicated in vascular injury by promoting cell adhesion, migration, and chemotaxis. To investigate the possible involvement of OPN in brain matrix remodeling after focal stroke, we examined the expression of OPN in ischemic cort...

Purpose Osteopontin (OPN) is a proinflammatory cytokine with diverse functions. Increased levels of OPN in vitreous fluid have been reported in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR); however, studies on circulating OPN levels in DR are limited. We aim to examine the association of plasma OPN levels with the presence and severity of DR in a multiethnic cohort with type 2 diabetes mellitus (typ...

Reperfusion-induced oxidative injury to the myocardium promotes activation and proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts and repair by scar formation. Osteopontin (OPN) is a proinflammatory cytokine that is upregulated after reperfusion. To determine whether OPN enhances fibroblast survival after exposure to oxidants, cardiac fibroblasts from wild-type (WT) or OPN-null (OPN(-/-)) mice were treated i...

OPN (osteopontin) is a secreted glycoprotein predominantly expressed in bone matrix and kidney tissue. More recently, a neuroprotective role has been attributed to this cytokine since it can be up-regulated by microglia in neurodegeneration and inflammation. We demonstrate the expression of OPN within primary cultured microglia. Microglia incubated in vitro with different concentrations (0.1 fM...

BACKGROUND Osteopontin (OPN), an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein, plays an important role in myocardial remodeling by promoting collagen synthesis and accumulation in experimental animal models. AIMS We hypothesized that OPN could be expressed in myocardial tissues and contribute to collagen accumulation and myocardial dysfunction in human dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). METHODS AND RESULT...

BACKGROUND Osteopontin (OPN) is overexpressed in many human tumors and involved in promotion of cancer cells by regulating various facets of tumor progression such as cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis. To understand roles of OPN in tumor progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) or develop molecular marker for prognosis and treatment of LSCC, we thus explore biological f...

Objective The variety of disease phenotypes among patients with SLE challenges the identification of new biomarkers reflecting disease activity and/or organ damage. Osteopontin (OPN) is an extracellular matrix protein with immunomodulating properties. Although raised levels have been reported, the pathogenic implications and clinical utility of OPN as a biomarker in SLE are far from clear. Thus...