Osteopontin (OPN) is a matricellular protein with proinflammatory and profibrotic properties. Previous reports demonstrate a role for OPN in wound healing and pulmonary fibrosis. Here, we determined whether OPN levels are increased in a large cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and whether OPN contributes to the development of dermal fibrosis. The plasma OPN levels were increased i...

Osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted phosphorylated and glycosylated protein, which plays an important role in carcinogenesis and metastasis. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), OPN is being investigated either as a therapeutic target gene or as a biomarker for diagnosis. Yet, the role of the anti-OPN autoantibody in HCC remains unclear. In the present study, the level of serum anti-OPN autoantibody ...

Osteopontin (OPN) is a T helper type 1 immunoregulatory cytokine that plays a critical role in various inflammatory disorders. OPN exerts proinflammatory reactions through interaction with integrin receptors. OPN function can be modulated by protease digestion. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate OPN function in vivo have not been elucidated. There are two putative heparin-binding d...

Osteopontin (OPN), a multifunctional secreted phosphoglycoprotein, plays diverse roles in bone biology, immune regulation, cell survival, inflammation, and cancer metastasis. Here we show its role in determining lymphocyte homeostasis and body mass in response to hindlimb unloading (HU), a model for evaluating effects of weightlessness on the musculoskeletal and other physiological systems. Usi...

BACKGROUND Osteopontin (OPN) is a multifunctional protein expressed in a variety of tissues and cells. Recent studies revealed increased OPN expression in the inflamed intestinal tissues of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The role of OPN in the pathophysiology of IBD, however, remains unclear. AIMS To investigate the role of OPN in the development of intestinal inflammation us...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to assess possible associations between osteopontin (OPN), and thrombin-cleaved (N-half) OPN, and nephropathy and coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS Plasma levels of OPN, N-half OPN, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were determined in 301 diabetic patients with (n = ...

BACKGROUND Melioidosis, caused by infection with Burkholderia (B.) pseudomallei, is a severe illness that is endemic in Southeast Asia. Osteopontin (OPN) is a phosphorylated glycoprotein that is involved in several immune responses including induction of T-helper 1 cytokines and recruitment of inflammatory cells. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS OPN levels were determined in plasma from 33 ...

To determine the effect of the down-regulation of osteopontin (OPN) expression on the sensitivity of breast cancer cells to doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic drug, OPN shRNA was used to transfect the OPN-positive breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. The expression of OPN mRNA and protein was analyzed by RT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. The cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were analy...

Our aim was to elucidate whether osteopontin (OPN) is involved in the onset of mineralisation and progression of extracellular calcification in striatal lesions due to mitochondrial toxin 3-nitropropionic acid exposure. OPN expression had two different patterns when observed using light microscopy. It was either localised to the Golgi complex in brain macrophages or had a small granular pattern...

Liver metastasis is a major cause of mortality from colorectal cancer (CRC). However, mechanisms underlying this process are largely unknown. Osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted phosphorylated glycoprotein that is involved in tumor migration and metastasis. The role of OPN in cancer is currently unclear. In this study, OPN mRNA was examined in tissues from CRC, adjacent normal mucosa, and liver met...