Short Description |
ELISA kit designed to detect and measure HMGB1 levels serum, plasma and culture media. The highly conserved amino acid sequence of the HMGB1 protein, this kit can be used to determine HMGB1 levels in mouse, rat, bovine, and human samples (99% sequence identity). |
Background |
HMGB1 (high mobility group box 1) (1) was recently rediscovered as a late lethal mediator of endotoxin and is currently considered a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays crucial roles in a variety of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. HMGB1 contains 216 amino acids that share more than 99% sequence identity in mice (2), rats, bovines, and humans. HMGB1 consists of three structural domains, termed "A box (9-85)", "B box (88-162)", and a negatively charged carboxyl terminus (186-216). Moreover, it has been previously shown that the B box recapitulates the pro-inflammatory activity whereas the A box acts as an antagonist of HMGB1. Several lines of evidence indicate the significance of HMGB1 in the immune inflammatory response. For example, it has been shown that HMGB1 is actively released by a variety of cells such as macrophages when stimulated by lipopolysaccharides (LPS), TNF-a, and IL-1, and is passively released by injured or necrotic cells associated with collapsing cell structures. In fact, patients who died from septic shock have higher serum HMGB1 levels than surviving sepsis patients. Similarly, high serum HMGB1 levels are observed in sepsis animal models and in collagen-induced arthritis animal models. With regard to the function of the protein itself, HMGB1 has also been shown to stimulate the release of TNF-a and IL-1, as well as bind LPS and synergistically increase peripheral blood mononuclear cell IL-6 production. Together, these observations demonstrate that HMGB1 plays important roles in the inflammatory cascade. |