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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Sep 3.
Published in final edited form as: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019 Sep 3;74(9):1237–1263. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2019.07.012

Figure 9. Vitamin K-dependent Matrix Gla protein (MGP) maturation.

Figure 9.

MGP maturation requires vitamin K, and leads to the formation of pc-MGP (phosphorylated, carboxylated MGP), which is a strong inhibitor of vascular calcification via inhibition of Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) signaling and VSMC osteogenic-differentiation. Vitamin K deficiency in the vascular wall leads to the formation of uncarboxylated (uc-)MGP (which accumulates in the vessel wall) and dephosphorylated, uncarboxylated (dpuc-)MGP which can be measured in serum.