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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1995 Aug 29;92(18):8171–8175. doi: 10.1073/pnas.92.18.8171

On the mechanism of the anticlotting action of vitamin E quinone.

P Dowd 1, Z B Zheng 1
PMCID: PMC41118  PMID: 7667263

Abstract

Vitamin E in the reduced, alpha-tocopherol form shows very modest anticlotting activity. By contrast, vitamin E quinone is a potent anticoagulant. This observation may have significance for field trials in which vitamin E is observed to exhibit beneficial effects on ischemic heart disease and stroke. Vitamin E quinone is a potent inhibitor of the vitamin K-dependent carboxylase that controls blood clotting. A newly discovered mechanism for the inhibition requires attachment of the active site thiol groups of the carboxylase to one or more methyl groups on vitamin E quinone. The results from a series of model reactions support this interpretation of the anticlotting activity associated with vitamin E.

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Selected References

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