Defensin promotes the binding of lipoprotein(a) to vascular matrix.

Retention of lipoproteins within the vasculature is a central event in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. However, the signals that mediate this process are only partially understood. Prompted by putative links between inflammation and atherosclerosis, we previously reported that alpha-defensins released by neutrophils are present in human atherosclerotic lesions and promote the binding of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] to vascular cells without a concomitant increase in degradation.

THE ONTOGENY OF POSTCRANIAL INTEGRATION IN THE COMMON TERN, STERNA HIRUNDO.

Empirical and theoretical work supports the concept that developmentally or functionally related characters tend to covary and hence evolve together. However, the dynamics of the developmental processes that establish within population covariance structures are not well understood. This paper focuses on a description of the relative growth of 16 postcranial skeletal elements during embryonic and posthatching development in the common tern, Sterna hirundo, and on a comparative analysis of ontogenetic and adult patterns of variation.