Fetuin

This monograph describes the plasma protein, fetuin. Once the connection was made between fetuin and its human counterpart - alpha2HS glycoprotein, structural analysis showed fetuin to be a member of the cystatin family. First descriptions of fetuin implicated its role in development. Fetuin is a major component of foetal calf serum and was thought to have special growth-promoting activity. The main interest in fetuin stems from the observation that, in the early developing brain, fetuin is expressed by a specific layer of cortical neurons. In this book, the current knowledge of fetuin structure and function is compiled. In addition, recent findings pointing to fetuin's possible function in the nervous and immune systems are presented.