title: Acute and severe coagulopathy in adult mice following silencing of hepatic antithrombin and protein C production.
abstract: Mice deficient in the anticoagulants antithrombin (Serpinc1) or protein C (Proc) display premature death due to thrombosis-related coagulopathy, thereby precluding their use in gene function studies and thrombosis models. We used RNA interference to silence Serpinc1 and/or Proc in normal adult mice. The severe coagulopathy that followed combined "knockdown" of these genes is reported. Two days after siRNA injection, thrombi (occlusive) were observed in vessels (large and medium-sized) in multiple tissues, and hemorrhages were prominent in the ocular, mandibular, and maxillary areas. Tissue fibrin deposition and reduction of plasma fibrinogen accompanied this phenotype. The coagulopathy was prevented by dabigatran etexilate treatment. Silencing of Serpinc1 alone yielded a comparable but milder phenotype with later onset. The phenotype was absent when Proc was targeted alone. We conclude that RNA interference of Serpinc1 and/or Proc allows for evaluation of the function of these genes in vivo and provides a novel, controlled mouse model for spontaneous venous thrombosis.
authors.affiliation: Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Huma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Safdar
authors.forename: Ka Lei
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Salvatori
authors.forename: Henri H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Versteeg
authors.forename: El Houari
authors.initials: el H
authors.lastname: Laghmani
authors.forename: Gerry T M
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Wagenaar
authors.forename: Pieter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Reitsma
authors.forename: Bart J M
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: van Vlijmen
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D000990:Antithrombin III / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001778:Blood Coagulation Disorders / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D020868:Gene Silencing; D008099:Liver / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010641:Phenotype; D011486:Protein C / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D011486:Protein C; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D000990:Antithrombin III