In other species: dog , domestic cat

Categories: Haematopoietic system phene

Links to possible relevant human trait(s) and/or gene(s) in OMIM: 277480 (trait) , 613160 (gene)

Single-gene trait/disorder: yes

Mode of inheritance: Autosomal recessive

Disease-related: yes

Key variant known: yes

Year key variant first reported: 2018

Cross-species summary: The von Willebrand factor (vWF) is a large multimeric plasma glycoprotein required for platelet adhesion and aggregation. A deficiency or defective vWF results in von Willebrand disease (vWD). vWD are often classified in 3 different types based on the clinical severity and quantity and multimere size of von Willebrand factor. Type I is characterized by low plasma vWF concentrations and mild to moderate bleeding symptoms. Type II disorder is characterised by qualitative abnormalities of the vWF protein and moderate to severe bleeding. Type III is the most severe form of vWD with no detectable or a severe quantitative deficiency of vWF.

Molecular basis: Lehner et al. (2018): "a tandem duplication of exons 17 and 18, causing a frameshift and a premature termination codon (p.Val814LeufsTer3) . . . This duplication putatively originates from porcine SINE elements located within VWF introns 16 and 18 with high identity. The premature termination truncates the VWF open reading frame by a large part, resulting in an almost entire loss of the mature peptide. It is therefore supposed to account for the severe VWD type 3."

Clinical features: Allerkamp et al. (2019) reported that "As compared with WT [wild-type], the ovaries of the VWD type 3 animals showed decreased gene expression of ANG2 and increased gene expression of TIE (tyrosine kinase with immunoglobulin and epidermal growth factor homology domains) 2, with some differences in the ANG/TIE-system among the mutant genotypes. In conclusion, severely reduced VWF seems to evoke angiodysplasia in the porcine uterus. Varying distribution and expression of angiogenic factors suggest that this large animal model is promising for investigation of influence of VWF on angiogenesis in larger groups."

Associated gene: