title: Midkine proteins in cardio-vascular disease. Where do we come from and where are we heading to?
abstract: Midkine is a recently identified new growth factor/cytokine with pleiotropic functions in the human organism. First discovered in the late eighties, midkines have now become the subject of numerous studies in cardiovascular, neurologic, renal diseases and also various types of cancers. We summarize here the most important functions of midkine in cardiovascular diseases, emphasizing its role in inflammation and its antiapoptotic and proangiogenetic effects. Midkine has multiple roles in the organism, with the specific feature of being either beneficial or harmful depending on which tissue it acts on. Even though midkine has been shown to have cardiac protective effects against acute ischemia/reperfusion injury and to inhibit cardiac remodeling, it also promotes intimal hyperplasia and vascular stenosis. As such, different therapeutic strategies are currently being evaluated, consisting of administering either midkine proteins or midkine inhibitors depending on the desired outcome. More data is gathering to suggest that these novel therapies could become an adjunctive to standard cardiovascular therapy. Nonetheless, much is still to be learned about midkine. The encouraging results up till now require further studying in order to fully understand the complete profile of its mechanism of action and the clinical safety and efficacy of novel therapeutic opportunities offered by midkine molecular targeting.
authors.affiliation: "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania; Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania. Electronic address: elisabeta.badila@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Elisabeta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bădilă
authors.affiliation: "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania; Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania. Electronic address: daraban.m.a@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ana Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Daraban
authors.affiliation: "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania; Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ţintea
authors.affiliation: "Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania; Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bartoş
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology 'Nicolae Simionescu' of Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Nicoleta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alexandru
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology 'Nicolae Simionescu' of Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Georgescu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D000078792:Midkine
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D000078792:Midkine
keywords: Antiapoptotic; Cardiovascular therapy; Midkine; Proangiogenetic; Remodeling