Expression, content, and localization of insulin-like growth factor I in human achilles tendon

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

In animals insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) stimulates collagen production by fibroblasts and is expressed in tendons together with its binding protein 4 (IGFBP-4). However, the presence of IGF-I and IGFBP-4 in human tendon tissue is not described. Tissue IGF-I content was examined by immunoflourometric assay, real-time PCR, and immunohistochemistry used to localize and determine expression of IGF-I and IGFBP-4 in 6 postmortem human Achilles tendons. Tendon tissue concentrations of IGF-I were found to be 0.53 +/- 0.10 ng/g. Furthermore, we demonstrated that IGF-I and IGFBP-4 are localized around the tendon fibroblasts and that mRNA for IGF-I and IGFBP-4 can be determined in human tendon tissue. The present study adds support for the roles of IGF-I and IGFBP-4 in the regulation of tendon adaptive responses to mechanical loading.
Original languageEnglish
JournalConnective Tissue Research
Volume47
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)200-206
Number of pages7
ISSN0300-8207
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006

    Research areas

  • Achilles Tendon, Adult, Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect, Gene Expression, Humans, Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 4, Insulin-Like Growth Factor I, Male, RNA, Messenger, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

ID: 38366164