OBJECTIVES Mountain ginseng pharmacopuncture (MGP) is an extract distilled from either mountain cultivated ginseng or mountain wild ginseng. This is the first intravenous injection of pharmacopuncture in Korea. The word intravenous does not discriminate between arteries, veins, and capillaries in Oriental Medicine, but only the vein is used for MGP. The aim of this study is to evaluate the intr...

OBJECTIVE Matrix gla protein (MGP) inhibits arterial and cartilaginous calcification. A threonine to alanine (Thr83Ala) polymorphism (codon 83) in MGP is associated with myocardial infarction and femoral artery calcification. We examined the association of the MGP Thr83Ala polymorphism with quantity and progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC), a noninvasive measure of subclinical cor...

We recently demonstrated that circulating MGP [matrix Gla (γ-carboxylated glutamate) protein] levels were associated with left ventricular dysfunction and increased mortality in patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis. We hypothesized that patients with chronic HF (heart failure) would have dysregulated MGP levels. We examined plasma dp-cMGP (non-phosphorylated carboxylated MGP) and dp-ucMGP ...

As part of its catabolic action in bone, parathyroid hormone (PTH) inhibits extracellular matrix mineralization. We previously showed that PTH dose-dependently induces matrix gla protein (MGP) expression in osteoblasts and this induction is at least partially responsible for PTH-mediated inhibition of mineralization. Recently, we identified PKA and ERK/MAPK as the key signaling pathways involve...

BACKGROUND Osteoblast phenotypic abnormality, namely the expression of collagen type III, has been shown previously in fracture non-union woven bone. AIMS To investigate osteoblasts from fracture non-unions for evidence of gene expression of non-collagenous bone matrix proteins that have been implicated in mineralisation, namely matrix gla protein (MGP), osteonectin, osteopontin, and osteocal...

Matrix Gla protein (MGP), is a vitamin-K-dependent protein which is synthesized in a variety of tissues such as lung, heart, kidney, cartilage and bone. The function of MGP in these tissues is unclear. We have previously reported elevated MGP mRNA levels in a breast-cancer cell line, 600PEI, as compared to normal breast epithelium. Here we describe high MGP expression in primary renal-cell carc...

Matrix Gla protein (MGP), a low molecular weight protein found in bone, dentin, and cartilage, contains 5 residues of the vitamin K-dependent amino acid gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla). We have used antibodies raised against MGP and oligonucleotide probes to screen a lambda gt11 cDNA library constructed from the rat osteosarcoma cells (line ROS 17/2) that had been pretreated with 1 alpha,25-di...

Mutations in Matrix Gla protein (MGP) have been correlated with vascular calcification. In the mouse model, MGP null vascular disease presents as calcifying cartilaginous lesions and mineral deposition along elastin lamellae (elastocalcinosis). Here we examined the mechanisms underlying both of these manifestations. Genetic ablation of enzyme transglutaminase 2 (TG2) in Mgp-/mice dramatically r...

RATIONALE The bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), a family of morphogens, have been implicated as mediators of calcification and inflammation in the vascular wall. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of altered expression of matrix Gla protein (MGP), an inhibitor of BMP, on vascular disease. METHODS AND RESULTS We used MGP transgenic or MGP-deficient mice bred to apolipoprotein E mice, a mo...

The objective of this study was to investigate the possible regulation of the vitamin K-dependent matrix Gla (gamma-carboxyglutamic acid) protein (MGP) by retinoic acid, a regulation suggested by the recent observation that the human MGP promoter has a perfect direct repeat which is nearly identical to the retinoic acid-responsive element in the retinoic acid receptor-beta gene. We report that ...