Given that Thymosin Beta 4 inhibits the polymerization of F-actin, it is possible that Thymosin Beta 4 decreases mortality in sepsis via the regulation of actin as well as its other anti-inflammatory properties and should be further pursued as a clinical trial in humans with sepsis.
A monoclonal antibody sandwich ELISA for vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) is unaffected by Gc-globulin phenotype peptides and actin and demonstrates reduced levels in sepsis and non-sepsis intensive care patients.
In sepsis, reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in the epithelium during inflammation will lead to a breakdown of epithelial barrier integrity, and contribute to the pathogenesis of sepsis, but the exact changes of various components regulating the actin cytoskeleton pathway remain unclear.
Besides procalcitonin (PCT) and hsCRP, gelsolin and actin/gelsolin ratios also proved to be useful in discriminating SIRS from sepsis in the ICU (p<0.05).
Therefore, the present study identified actin as a new ligand for TREM-1 signaling, and it also provided a link between both essential regulators of death in sepsis.
Another hallmark of sepsis is an excessive recruitment of neutrophils that also involves changes in the actin cytoskeleton in both endothelial cells and neutrophils.
Perhaps the most important consequence of calpain activation in skeletal muscle during sepsis is disruption of the sarcomere, allowing for the release of myofilaments (including actin and myosin) that are subsequently ubiquitinated and degraded by the 26S proteasome.