T. Kojima et al., Plasma levels of syndecan-4 (ryudocan) are elevated in patients with acutemyocardial infarction, THROMB HAEM, 85(5), 2001, pp. 793-799
Syndecan-4 (ryudocan) is a cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan, which
plays an important role in a variety of biological functions including reg
ulation of blood coagulation, cell adhesion, and cell growth. In this study
, we measured plasma levels of syndecan-4 in patients with acute myocardial
infarction using an enzyme-immunoassay, and found that they were extremely
high, with a peak of average (10.5 +/- 5.6 ng/ml, 2 weeks after onset), as
compared with those in normal subjects (0.078 +/- 0.030 ng/ml) (p < 0.001)
. We also observed a distinct expression of syndecan-4 in the repair region
of the damaged cardiac tissues with infarction, but not in intact region,
by immunohistochemical analysis. To clarify the mechanism of syndecan-4 ind
uction, we investigated the hypoxia effect on its expression, and found tha
t hypoxia treatment up-regulated the gene expression of syndecan-4 in vario
us types of cells. Taken together, it is suggested that syndecan-4 is induc
ed by hypoxia stimuli in ischemic heart tissues. and may function as a tiss
ue-repair molecule via biological mediators such as heparin-binding growth
factors.