The Potential Role of Fetuin-A Supplementation in Regulating Phenotypic Differentiation in Calcified Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

摘要

Conclusions: This cell culture study supports the use of Fetuin-A as a potential therapeutic agent to prevent the development of vascular calcification. Results from the study support Fetuin-A's role in VSMC phenotypic regulation. Future studies include PCR analysis for bone marker expression such as the osteoblastic transcription factor Runx2 in in vitro calcification models supplemented with Fetuin-A. Because vascular calcification is regulated by environmental cues that modulate phenotypic changes from native VSMC to osteoblast-like cells, we expect to see decreased expression of osteoblastic markers such as Runx2 in response to treatment with Fetuin-A supporting its efficacy as a treatment for vascular calcification.