Osteopontin Plays an Important Role in the Development of Medial Thickening and Neointimal Formation

Abstract
Osteopontin (OPN) is a soluble secreted phosphoprotein that binds with high affinity to several integrins and it has been found at the site of atherosclerotic lesions. However, the role of OPN expression in vivo is still poorly understood. To investigate the physiological role of OPN in detail, we generated transgenic mice (Tg) overexpressing the OPN gene under control of the cytomegalovirus enhancer/chicken β-actin promoter. We detected OPN mRNAs in almost all tissues of 3 lines of Tg mice by Northern blotting. The serum levels of OPN were significantly higher in Tg than in non-Tg mice (782±107 versus 182±44 ng/mL; P P P P =0.022). The expression of OPN induces both medial thickening without injury and neointimal formation after injury, thus suggesting that OPN plays a role in the development of atherosclerosis, vascular remodeling, and restenosis after angioplasty in vivo.

This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit: