Molecular and cellular biology of osteopontin Potential role in cardiovascular disease.

Molecular biology has greatly enhanced our ability to identify molecules expressed as a part of the vascular response to injury. Among these, osteopontin is of particular interest. Osteopontin is a multifunctional adhesive glycoprotein implicated in the pathogenesis of a growing number of cardiovascular lesions, including restenosis, atherosclerosis, aortic valve calcification, and repair of myocardial wounds. In this review, we focus on structural, functional, and regulatory properties of osteopontin, which might be particularly relevant to cardiovascular lesion development.