It has been shown previously that the thioredoxin system (thioredoxin + thioredoxin reductase + NADPH) may replace dithiothreitol (DTT) as a cofactor for vitamin KO and K reductase in salt-washed detergent-solubilized bovine liver microsomes. Here we demonstrate that the system can be improved further by adding protein disulphide-isomerase (PDI) to the components mentioned above. Moreover, NADPH may be replaced by reduced RNAase as a hydrogen donor. In our in vitro system the various protein cofactors were required at concentrations 2-5 orders of magnitude lower than that of DDT, whereas the maximal reaction rate was about 3-fold higher. PDI stimulated the thioredoxin-driven reaction about 10-fold, with an apparent Km value of 8 microM. These data suggest that in the vitro system the formation of disulphide bonds is somehow linked to the vitamin K-dependent carboxylation of glutamate residues. In vivo, both disulphide formation and vitamin K-dependent carboxylation are post-translational modifications taking place at the luminal side of the endoplasmic reticulum of mammalian secretory cells. The possibility that the reactions are also coupled in vivo is discussed.

Vitamin K is involved in blood coagulation and in bone metabolism via the carboxylation of glutamate residues in (hepatic) blood coagulation factors and (osteoblastic) bone proteins. The bioavailability of nutritional vitamin K depends on the type of food, the dietary fat content, the length of the aliphatic side chain in the K-vitamer and probably also the genetically determined polymorphism of apolipoprotein E. Although undercarboxylation of blood coagulation factors is very rare, undercarboxylated osteocalcin (bone Gla-protein) is frequently found in postmenopausal women. Supplementation of these women with extra vitamin K causes the markers for bone formation to increase. In parallel, a decrease of the markers for bone resorption is frequently seen. Insufficient data are available to conclude that the regular administration of vitamin K concentrates will reduce the loss of bone mass in white women at risk for developing postmenopausal osteoporosis.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract