The Pathway Ontology (PW), is currently being developed at the Rat Genome Database. For more information about this vocabulary, please see Petri et al. The rat genome database pathway portal. Database (Oxford). 2011 Apr 8;2011:bar010. Print 2011 or contact us (http://rgd.mcw.edu/contact/index.shtml).
The vitamin K cycle is an essential aspect of its metabolism. The carboxylation of glutamate residues in vitamin K-dependent (VKD) proteins, necessary for their function, requires a reduced form of vitamin K as a cofactor. The resulting oxidized compound is converted back to the reduced form via a two-step reduction reaction. Natural and synthetic antagonists block the cycle and thus, the VKD protein modification. VKD proteins include coagulation factors; antagonists are used as anti-coagulation, anti-thrombotic agents.