Premium
The realm of vitamin K dependent proteins: Shifting from coagulation toward calcification
Author(s) -
Willems Brecht A. G.,
Vermeer Cees,
Reutelingsperger Chris P. M.,
Schurgers Leon J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
molecular nutrition and food research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.495
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1613-4133
pISSN - 1613-4125
DOI - 10.1002/mnfr.201300743
Subject(s) - calcification , coagulation , vitamin d and neurology , vitamin , matrix gla protein , vitamin k2 , vitamin k , function (biology) , medicine , chemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , ectopic calcification
In the past few decades vitamin K has emerged from a single‐function “haemostasis vitamin” to a “multi‐function vitamin.” The use of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) inevitably showed that the inhibition was not restricted to vitamin K dependent coagulation factors but also synthesis of functional extrahepatic vitamin K dependent proteins (VKDPs), thereby eliciting undesired side effects. Vascular calcification is one of the recently revealed detrimental effects of VKA. The discovery that VKDPs are involved in vascular calcification has propelled our mechanistic understanding of this process and has opened novel avenues for diagnosis and treatment. This review addresses mechanisms of VKDPs and their significance for physiological and pathological calcification.