fetuins meaning

• [Medicine]
  The first alpha-globulins to appear in mammalian sera during development of the embryo and the dominant serum proteins in early embryonic life. They reappear in the adult serum during certain pathologic states,primarily hepatocellular carcinoma. They may also be elevated in the amniotic fluid and maternal serum during pregnancy in ANENCEPHALY.

• Fetuins exist in all vertebrate genomes including fish and reptiles.
• Fetuins thus belong to the cystatin superfamily of proteins.
• Fetuins are carrier proteins like albumin.
• Fetuins like histidine-rich glycoprotein and kininogens are secreted ( so-called type 3 ) cystatins.
• Fetuins are members of a family of proteins that evolved from the protein cystatin by gene duplication and exchange of gene segments.
• Fetuins have been implicated in several diverse functions, including osteogenesis and bone resorption, regulation of the insulin and hepatocyte growth factor receptors, and response to systemic inflammation.

• "fetuins" meaning in Chinese: [网络] 胎儿