title: Deficiency of von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease activity in the plasma of malignant patients.
abstract: von Willebrand factor (vWF) multimeric pattern and von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease activity (vWF-cp) were studied using plasmas from patients with advanced stage- and limited stage-malignant tumors. Deficiency of highly polymeric forms of vWF was observed in plasmas from 7 of 11 patients tested. vWF-cp activity was deficient in plasma samples of six patients with advanced stage-malignant tumors (ranging from 6% to 30% activity of normal plasma), whereas an essentially normal vWF-cp activity was observed in samples taken from patients with limited stage-malignant tumors. Inhibitor of vWF-cp was not detected in any plasma samples tested. To further analyze the relevance of this enzymatic activity in metastatic diagnosis, a study of vWF-cp activity was conducted in 17 patients with colon cancer, and it was shown that deficiency of vWF-cp was associated with the progression of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Research Institute and BK21 Projects for Medical Sciences, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, South Korea.
authors.forename: Bon-Hun
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: Doyeun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Nam Keun
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seonyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yangsoo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Kwang-Hoe
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D051722:ADAM Proteins; D000071120:ADAMTS13 Protein; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D019281:Dimerization; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases / Q000097:blood / Q000172:deficiency*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014841:von Willebrand Factor; D051722:ADAM Proteins; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases; D000071120:ADAMTS13 Protein; C099604:ADAMTS13 protein, human