ArticlePloS one2013
Localization of microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) in human tissues: clinical evaluation of serum MFAP4 and its association with various cardiovascular conditions.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Osteopontin-expressing valvular interstitial cell subpopulation as a driver of extracellular matrix remodeling in aortic valve disease.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Article
- Integrated trajectories of systolic and diastolic function differentially associate with risk for heart failure with preserved and reduced ejection fraction and proteomic profiles.European journal of heart failure · 2025Article
- Tolerability and effect of inhibiting microfibrillar-associated protein 4 in small intestinal anastomotic healing.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Spatial transcriptomics reveal high T cell and monocyte status as predictive and prognostic markers in pancreatic cancer.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- Pharmacological blocking of microfibrillar-associated protein 4 reduces retinal neoangiogenesis and vascular leakage.Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2025Article
- Detecting respiratory impairment in newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis by MRC dyspnoea scale and microfibrillar-associated protein 4.European clinical respiratory journal · 2025Article
- Identification of biomarkers and immune microenvironment associated with heart failure through bioinformatics and machine learning.Frontiers in molecular biosciences · 2025Article
- MFAP4 is a novel prognostic biomarker in glioma correlating with immunotherapy resistance and ferroptosis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- tRNA-derived small RNAs (tsRNAs) in cardiovascular diseases: biogenesis, functions, and therapeutic targets.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Review
- Microfibrillar-associated protein 4 as a predictive biomarker of treatment response in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases initiating biologics: secondary analyses based on the prospective BELIEVE cohort study.Rheumatology international · 2024Article
- Review
- Microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4 forms octamers that mediate interactions with elastogenic proteins and cells.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Roles of Integrin in Cardiovascular Diseases: From Basic Research to Clinical Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Microfibrillar-associated protein 4 as a potential marker of acute relapse in inflammatory demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system: Pathological and clinical aspects.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2023Article
- Identification of immune-related genes for the diagnosis of ischemic heart failure based on bioinformatics.iScience · 2023Article
- Circulating biomarkers associated with aortic diameter in male and female patients with thoracic aortic disease: a cross-sectional study.Open heart · 2023Article
- Serum MFAP4, a novel potential biomarker for liver cirrhosis screening, correlates with transient elastography in NAFLD patients.JGH open : an open access journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2023Article
- Declined plasma microfibrillar-associated protein 4 levels in acute coronary syndrome.European journal of medical research · 2023Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Microfibrillar-associated protein 4 (MFAP4) is located in the extracellular matrix (ECM). We sought to identify tissues with high levels of MFAP4 mRNA and MFAP4 protein expression. Moreover, we aimed to evaluate the significance of MFAP4 as a marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and to correlate MFAP4 with other known ECM markers, such as fibulin-1, osteoprotegerin (OPG), and osteopontin (OPN). Quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated that MFAP4 mRNA was more highly expressed in the heart, lung, and intestine than in other elastic tissues. Immunohistochemical studies demonstrated high levels of MFAP4 protein mainly at sites rich in elastic fibers and within blood vessels in all tissues investigated. The AlphaLISA technique was used to determine serum MFAP4 levels in a clinical cohort of 172 patients consisting of 5 matched groups with varying degrees of CVD: 1: patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), 2: patients with non-STEMI, 3: patients destined for vascular surgery because of various atherosclerotic diseases (stable atherosclerotic disease), 4: apparently healthy individuals with documented coronary artery calcification (CAC-positive), and 5: apparently healthy individuals without signs of coronary artery calcification (CAC-negative). Serum MFAP4 levels were significantly lower in patients with stable atherosclerotic disease than CAC-negative individuals (p<0.05). Furthermore, lower serum MFAP4 levels were present in patients with stable atherosclerotic disease compared with STEMI and non-STEMI patients (p<0.05). In patients with stable atherosclerotic disease, positive correlations between MFAP4 and both fibulin-1 (ρ = 0.50; p = 0.0244) and OPG (ρ = 0.62; p = 0.0014) were found. Together, these results indicate that MFAP4 is mainly located in elastic fibers and is highly expressed in blood vessels. The present study suggests that serum MFAP4 varies in groups of patients with different cardiovascular conditions. Further studies are warranted to describe the role of serum MFAP4 as a biomarker of stable atherosclerotic disease.
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