Structural and functional comparison of native pentameric, denatured monomeric and biotinylated C-reactive protein.

There are many controversies surrounding the biological activities of native C-reactive protein (nCRP) and its various modified forms such as monomerized and biotinylated CRP (mCRP and bCRP). No simple methods have been described to distinguish among these forms. By adapting established electrophoresis methods, we have developed a useful quality control method with which we have investigated the structural and functional characteristics of these forms of CRP.

C-reactive protein-induced in vitro endothelial cell activation is an artefact caused by azide and lipopolysaccharide.

Objective: C-reactive protein (CRP) has been proposed to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In vitro studies investigating the mechanism behind this have used purified commercial CRP (cCRP) and endothelial cells. We investigated the role of contaminants in cCRP preparations.

C-reactive protein-induced in vitro vasorelaxation is an artefact caused by the presence of sodium azide in commercial preparations.

Objective: Although C-reactive protein (CRP) is increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for acute myocardial events, recent evidence suggests that it can directly induce vasorelaxation. This study aimed to investigate the mechanism of this CRP-induced response.

Methods And Results: Isometric tension recordings were used to measure endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent vascular smooth muscle relaxation in isolated rabbit aortic rings.