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Serum Amyloid A (SAA) Proteins

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Vertebrate and Invertebrate Respiratory Proteins, Lipoproteins and other Body Fluid Proteins

Part of the book series: Subcellular Biochemistry ((SCBI,volume 94))

Abstract

As normal constituents of blood serum, the Serum Amyloid A (SAA) proteins are small (104 amino acids in humans) and remarkably well-conserved in mammalian evolution. They are synthesized prominently, but not exclusively, in the liver. Fragments of SAA can associate into insoluble fibrils (called “amyloid”) characteristic of “secondary” amyloid disease in which they can interrupt normal physiology and lead to organ failure. SAA proteins comprise a family of molecules, two members of which (SAA1 and SAA2) are (along with C-reactive protein, CRP) the most prominent members of the acute phase response (APR) during which their serum levels rise dramatically after trauma, infection and other stimuli. Biologic function (s) of SAA are unresolved but features are consistent with a prominent role in primordial host defense (including the APR ). SAA proteins are lipophilic and contribute to high density lipoproteins (HDL) and cholesterol transport. SAA proteins interact with specific receptors and have been implicated in tissue remodeling through metalloproteinases, local tissue changes in atherosclerosis, cancer metastasis, lung inflammation, maternal–fetal health and intestinal physiology. Molecular details of some of these are emerging.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biological Chemistry and Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 N. Wolfe Street, Physiology 615, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    George H. Sack Jr.

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  1. George H. Sack Jr.
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Correspondence to George H. Sack Jr. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Molecular Physiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

    Ulrich Hoeger

  2. Institute of Molecular Physiology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

    J. Robin Harris

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Sack, G.H. (2020). Serum Amyloid A (SAA) Proteins. In: Hoeger, U., Harris, J. (eds) Vertebrate and Invertebrate Respiratory Proteins, Lipoproteins and other Body Fluid Proteins. Subcellular Biochemistry, vol 94. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41769-7_17

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