Afamin is an 87 kDa glycoprotein with five predicted N-glycosylation sites. Afamin"s glycan abundance contributes to conformational and chemical inhomogeneity presenting great challenges for molecular structure determination. Afamin, a human plasma glycoprotein and putative transporter of hydrophobic molecules, has been shown to act as extracellular chaperone for poorly soluble, acylated Wnt proteins, forming a stable, soluble complex with functioning Wnt proteins. The 2.1-Å crystal structure of glycosylated human afamin reveals an almost exclusively hydrophobic binding cleft capable of harboring large hydrophobic moieties. Afamin plays a role in anti-apoptotic cellular processes related to oxidative stress and is associated with insulin resistance and other features of metabolic syndrome. Afamin may serve as a new early biomarker for pathological glucose metabolism during pregnancy. And first trimester screening for pre-eclampsia could be provided by a combination of afamin and placental bed vascularization. Moreover, the combination of first trimester serum afamin levels with BMI could provide a possible screening for gestational diabetes mellitus.

afamin