Tsaioun K I
Harvard Medical School, New England Regional Primate Research Center, Southborough, MA 01772-9102, USA.
Nutr Rev. 1999 Aug;57(8):231-40. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.1999.tb06950.x.
Although the warfarin embryopathy syndrome, with its neurologic and bone abnormalities, has been known for decades, the role of vitamin K in the brain has not been studied systematically. Recently, it was demonstrated that vitamin K-dependent carboxylase expression is temporally regulated in a tissue-specific manner with high expression in the nervous system during the early embryonic stages and with liver expression after birth and in adult animals. This finding, along with the discovery of wide distribution of the novel vitamin K-dependent growth factor, Gas6, in the central nervous system, provides compelling evidence of a biologic role of vitamin K during the development of the nervous system. In animals and bacteria, vitamin K was observed to influence the brain sulfatide concentration and the activity and synthesis of an important enzyme involved in brain sphingolipids biosynthesis. Taken together, previous research results point to a possible role of vitamin K in the nervous system, especially during its development. Hence, the knowledge of the biologic role of vitamin K in the brain may be important for unveiling the mechanisms of normal and pathologic development and aging of the nervous system. The role of the vitamin K-dependent protein Gas6 in activation of signal transduction events in the brain in light of the age-related changes in the nervous system is also discussed.
尽管华法林胚胎病综合征及其神经和骨骼异常已为人所知数十年，但维生素K在大脑中的作用尚未得到系统研究。最近有研究表明，维生素K依赖羧化酶的表达在时间上呈现组织特异性调控，在胚胎早期神经系统中高表达，出生后及成年动物中则在肝脏表达。这一发现，连同新型维生素K依赖生长因子Gas6在中枢神经系统中广泛分布的发现，为维生素K在神经系统发育过程中的生物学作用提供了有力证据。在动物和细菌中，观察到维生素K会影响脑硫脂浓度以及参与脑鞘脂生物合成的一种重要酶的活性和合成。综合来看，先前的研究结果表明维生素K在神经系统中可能发挥作用，尤其是在其发育过程中。因此，了解维生素K在大脑中的生物学作用对于揭示神经系统正常和病理发育及衰老机制可能具有重要意义。本文还讨论了维生素K依赖蛋白Gas6鉴于神经系统中与年龄相关的变化在大脑信号转导事件激活中的作用。
