Structural highlights
Disease
[VWF_HUMAN] Defects in VWF are the cause of von Willebrand disease type 1 (VWD1) [MIM:193400]. A common hemorrhagic disorder due to defects in von Willebrand factor protein and resulting in impaired platelet aggregation. Von Willebrand disease type 1 is characterized by partial quantitative deficiency of circulating von Willebrand factor, that is otherwise structurally and functionally normal. Clinical manifestations are mucocutaneous bleeding, such as epistaxis and menorrhagia, and prolonged bleeding after surgery or trauma.[1] [2] Defects in VWF are the cause of von Willebrand disease type 2 (VWD2) [MIM:613554]. A hemorrhagic disorder due to defects in von Willebrand factor protein and resulting in impaired platelet aggregation. Von Willebrand disease type 2 is characterized by qualitative deficiency and functional anomalies of von Willebrand factor. It is divided in different subtypes including 2A, 2B, 2M and 2N (Normandy variant). The mutant VWF protein in types 2A, 2B and 2M are defective in their platelet-dependent function, whereas the mutant protein in type 2N is defective in its ability to bind factor VIII. Clinical manifestations are mucocutaneous bleeding, such as epistaxis and menorrhagia, and prolonged bleeding after surgery or trauma. Defects in VWF are the cause of von Willebrand disease type 3 (VWD3) [MIM:277480]. A severe hemorrhagic disorder due to a total or near total absence of von Willebrand factor in the plasma and cellular compartments, also leading to a profound deficiency of plasmatic factor VIII. Bleeding usually starts in infancy and can include epistaxis, recurrent mucocutaneous bleeding, excessive bleeding after minor trauma, and hemarthroses.
Function
[VWF_HUMAN] Important in the maintenance of hemostasis, it promotes adhesion of platelets to the sites of vascular injury by forming a molecular bridge between sub-endothelial collagen matrix and platelet-surface receptor complex GPIb-IX-V. Also acts as a chaperone for coagulation factor VIII, delivering it to the site of injury, stabilizing its heterodimeric structure and protecting it from premature clearance from plasma.
Evolutionary Conservation
Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
Bitiscetin, a platelet adhesion inducer isolated from venom of the snake Bitis arietans, activates the binding of the von Willebrand factor (VWF) A1 domain to glycoprotein Ib (GPIb) in vitro. This activation requires the formation of a bitiscetin-VWF A1 complex, suggesting an allosteric mechanism of action. Here, we report the crystal structure of bitiscetin-VWF A1 domain complex solved at 2.85 A. In the complex structure, helix alpha5 of VWF A1 domain lies on a concave depression on bitiscetin, and binding sites are located at both ends of the depression. The binding sites correspond well with those proposed previously based on alanine-scanning mutagenesis (Matsui, T., Hamako, J., Matsushita, T., Nakayama, T., Fujimura, Y., and Titani, K. (2002) Biochemistry 41, 7939-7946). Against our expectations, the structure of the VWF A1 domain bound to bitiscetin does not differ significantly from the structure of the free A1 domain. These results are similar to the case of botrocetin, another snake-derived inducer of platelet aggregation, although the binding modes of botrocetin and bitiscetin are different. The modeled structure of the ternary bitiscetin-VWF A1-GPIb complex suggests that an electropositive surface of bitiscetin may interact with a favorably positioned anionic region of GPIb. These results suggest that snake venom proteins induce VWF A1-GPIbalpha binding by interacting with both proteins, and not by causing conformational changes in VWF A1.
Crystal structure of von Willebrand factor A1 domain complexed with snake venom, bitiscetin: insight into glycoprotein Ibalpha binding mechanism induced by snake venom proteins.,Maita N, Nishio K, Nishimoto E, Matsui T, Shikamoto Y, Morita T, Sadler JE, Mizuno H J Biol Chem. 2003 Sep 26;278(39):37777-81. Epub 2003 Jul 8. PMID:12851390[3]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
See Also
References
- ↑ Allen S, Abuzenadah AM, Hinks J, Blagg JL, Gursel T, Ingerslev J, Goodeve AC, Peake IR, Daly ME. A novel von Willebrand disease-causing mutation (Arg273Trp) in the von Willebrand factor propeptide that results in defective multimerization and secretion. Blood. 2000 Jul 15;96(2):560-8. PMID:10887119
- ↑ Bodo I, Katsumi A, Tuley EA, Eikenboom JC, Dong Z, Sadler JE. Type 1 von Willebrand disease mutation Cys1149Arg causes intracellular retention and degradation of heterodimers: a possible general mechanism for dominant mutations of oligomeric proteins. Blood. 2001 Nov 15;98(10):2973-9. PMID:11698279
- ↑ Maita N, Nishio K, Nishimoto E, Matsui T, Shikamoto Y, Morita T, Sadler JE, Mizuno H. Crystal structure of von Willebrand factor A1 domain complexed with snake venom, bitiscetin: insight into glycoprotein Ibalpha binding mechanism induced by snake venom proteins. J Biol Chem. 2003 Sep 26;278(39):37777-81. Epub 2003 Jul 8. PMID:12851390 doi:10.1074/jbc.M305566200
