LabMedica

Download Mobile App
Recent News Expo Clinical Chem. Molecular Diagnostics Hematology Immunology Microbiology Pathology Technology Industry Focus

Protein Linked to Increased Risk for CVD and Stroke

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 20 Feb 2019
Print article
Image: Clusterin can accumulate in juxtanuclear aggregates. Clusterin is a chaperone protein that is synthesized in response to cellular stress. It often appears in cells undergoing apoptosis and is linked to an increased risk for heart disease (Photo courtesy of The Company of Biologists).
Image: Clusterin can accumulate in juxtanuclear aggregates. Clusterin is a chaperone protein that is synthesized in response to cellular stress. It often appears in cells undergoing apoptosis and is linked to an increased risk for heart disease (Photo courtesy of The Company of Biologists).
The overproduction of the protein clusterin can cause cardiometabolic syndrome, which is a combination of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and extra body fat around the waist and high cholesterol or triglyceride levels.

Components of the adipose tissue (AT) extracellular matrix (ECM) are recently discovered contributors to obesity-related cardiometabolic disease. Increased adipocyte expression of ECM-related clusterin (apolipoprotein J) in obese versus lean women by microarray has been identified.

Scientists at the Wexner Medical Center (Columbus, OH, USA) and their associates validated increased clusterin expression in adipocytes from a separate group of 18 lean and 54 obese individuals. The relationship of clusterin gene expression and plasma clusterin with insulin resistance (IR), cardiovascular biomarkers, and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) was then determined. Further investigations in human cultured cells and in aged LDLR−/− mice prone to development of obesity-associated complications were performed.

The team reported that subcutaneous AT adipocyte (SAd) clusterin correlated with IR, multiple cardiovascular disease (CVD) biomarkers, and CVD risk, independent of traditional risk factors. Circulating human clusterin exhibited similar associations. In human adipocytes, palmitate enhanced clusterin secretion, and in human hepatocytes clusterin attenuated insulin signaling and apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1) expression and stimulated hepatic gluconeogenesis. Megalin (LRP2), a clusterin receptor, highly expressed in liver, mediated these effects, which were inhibited by LRP2 small interfering RNA (siRNA).

The authors concluded that adipocyte-derived clusterin is a novel ECM-related protein linking cardiometabolic disease and obesity through its actions in the liver. David Bradley, MD, an assistant professor and lead author of the study, said, “Our goal was to discover new factors produced by the cells in fat tissue that have an impact on cardiometabolic disease. In particular, we wanted to identify those important to maintaining the framework of fat tissue, called the extracellular matrix, which becomes dysfunctional in obesity.” The study was published in the January 2019 issue of the journal Diabetes Care.

Related Links:
Wexner Medical Center

Platinum Member
COVID-19 Rapid Test
OSOM COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test
Magnetic Bead Separation Modules
MAG and HEATMAG
Complement 3 (C3) Test
GPP-100 C3 Kit
Gold Member
ADAMTS-13 Protease Activity Test
ATS-13 Activity Assay

Print article

Channels

Hematology

view channel
Image: The CAPILLARYS 3 DBS devices have received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance (Photo courtesy of Sebia)

Next Generation Instrument Screens for Hemoglobin Disorders in Newborns

Hemoglobinopathies, the most widespread inherited conditions globally, affect about 7% of the population as carriers, with 2.7% of newborns being born with these conditions. The spectrum of clinical manifestations... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The AI predictive model identifies the most potent cancer killing immune cells for use in immunotherapies (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

AI Predicts Tumor-Killing Cells with High Accuracy

Cellular immunotherapy involves extracting immune cells from a patient's tumor, potentially enhancing their cancer-fighting capabilities through engineering, and then expanding and reintroducing them into the body.... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The T-SPOT.TB test is now paired with the Auto-Pure 2400 liquid handling platform for accurate TB testing (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Integrated Solution Ushers New Era of Automated Tuberculosis Testing

Tuberculosis (TB) is responsible for 1.3 million deaths every year, positioning it as one of the top killers globally due to a single infectious agent. In 2022, around 10.6 million people were diagnosed... Read more