title: Fetuin--an old friend revisited.
abstract: Bovine fetuin, the first fetal protein to be described, has recently been shown to be a species homologue of a well known human plasma protein--alpha 2HS glycoprotein (alpha 2HS). The fetuins are now known to be members of the cystatin superfamily. The structural properties of the six fetuins that have been fully sequenced are compared. Despite the structural homology of these proteins, their described properties in the literature make them appear to be quite different. The diverse in vitro properties claimed for fetuin/alpha 2HS are reviewed. In vivo, fetuins are involved in the acute phase response. In development, in all species studied so far, fetuins are present in a specific cell population that forms the developing neocortex. The possible functional significance of this distribution is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Skin Biology Research Center, R. W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Raritan, NJ 08869-0602.
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: N R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Møllgård
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Dziegielewska
mesh_terms: D000210:Acute-Phase Reaction / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D002417:Cattle; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000196:embryology; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D015891:Cystatins / Q000235:genetics; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D011487:Protein Conformation; D060749:alpha-2-HS-Glycoprotein; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C556354:AHSG protein, human; D001798:Blood Proteins; D002556:Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins; D015891:Cystatins; D060749:alpha-2-HS-Glycoprotein; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins