Adhesion Molecules in Renal Disease
Guest Editor: Michael S. Goligorsky, Stony Brook, N.Y.

Paper

Osteopontin Function in Pathology: Lessons from Osteopontin-Deficient Mice
Susan R. Rittling, David T. Denhardt

Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J., USA

Address of Corresponding Author

Exp Nephrol 1999;7:103-113 (DOI: 10.1159/000020591)

  Key Words

• Osteopontin
• Macrophages
• Injury
• Knockout mice

  Abstract

Osteopontin (OPN) is a soluble secreted phosphoprotein that binds with high affinity to several different integrins. While numerous activities have been ascribed to OPN in vitro, and several in vivo functions have been suggested for the molecule, including much attention focused recently on OPN in different pathologies, the actual role that the protein plays in mammalian physiology remains conjectural. Analysis of recently developed strains of mice lacking OPN because of a targeted disruption of its gene promises to provide important information on this issue. Here, we review the data implicating OPN as functioning in a variety of pathologic conditions as well as the initial results generated with the OPN knockout mice, with particular focus on the question of whether OPN has a protective or a damaging effect in different pathologies. These data will be important to the definition of how OPN contributes to mammalian physiology and pathophysiology.

  Author Contacts

Dr. Susan R. Rittling
Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University
Nelson Hall, 604 Alison Rd.
Piscataway, NJ 08854-8082 (USA)
Tel. +1 732 445 2229, Fax +1 732 445 0104, E-Mail rittling@mbcl.rutgers.edu

  Article Information

Number of Print Pages : 11
Number of Figures : 2, Number of Tables : 1, Number of References : 91