SDS-agarose FN immunoblotting of 257 normal and pathological human plasma samples revealed the ladder pattern of multiple plasma FN bands which corresponded to FN monomer and dimer, and 5 FN-fibrin bands with increasing molecular masses. The FN-fibrin bands of about 750 kDa, 1000 kDa, 1300 kDa, 1600 kDa, and 1900 kDa appeared more frequently and in significantly higher relative amounts in the pathological samples (P < 0.000) than in relatively healthy individuals. The revealing of high-molecular FN-fibrin complexes by SDS-agarose FN immunobloting might have the potential to become a laboratory biomarker of some diseases in which the coagulation system is triggered.

Urothelium, a specialized epithelium, covers the urinary tract and act not only as a barrier separating its light from the surrounding tissues, but fulfills an important role in maintaining the homeostasis of the urothelial tract and well-being of the whole organism. Proper function of urothelium is dependent on the precise assemble of highly specialized glycoproteins called uroplakins, the end products and differentiation markers of the urothelial cells. Glycosylation changes in uroplakins correlate with and might reflect progressive stages of pathological conditions of the urothelium such as cancer, urinary tract infections, interstitial cystitis and others. In this review we focus on sugar components of uroplakins, their emerging role in urothelial biology and disease implications. The advances in our understanding of uroplakins changes in glycan moieties composition, structure, assembly and expression of their glycovariants could potentially lead to the development of targeted therapies and discoveries of novel urine and plasma markers for the benefit of patients with urinary tract diseases.

Atherosclerosis, a chronic vascular disease, leads to molecular events bound with interplaying processes of inflammation and coagulation. In the present study, fibronectin (FN), FN containing extra domain A (EDA-FN), frequency of occurrence, and relative amounts of soluble plasma FN-fibrin complexes were analyzed in 80 plasma samples of patients suspected of coronary artery disease based on clinical evaluation and changes in arteries found by computed tomographic coronary angiography. The study showed that in the plasma of the patients’ group with high risk of coronary artery disease EDA-FN concentration was significantly higher (3.5 ± 2.5 mg/L; P < 0.025) and the molecular FN-fibrin complexes of 1000 kDa and higher occurred more often than in the groups of patients with mild risk of coronary artery disease and the normal age-matched. The increased level of EDA-FN and occurrence of FN-fibrin complexes could have a potential diagnostic value in the diagnosis and management of patients with coronary artery disease.