Michael Kohn Lab research on medical genomics

MEDICAL GENETICS

vkorc1 mutations affect blood coagulation

Warfarin (Coumadin) is a widely used drug for thrombosis and stroke prophylaxis. In humans, vkorc1 is studied in the context of personalized medicine and side effects if warfarin is dosed inadequately.

One medical application of our work will be to provide a more complete collection of genes that may mediate warfarin-drug interactions.

Moreover, we study the phenotype of vkorc1 mutant lab strains of rats and mice, because, blood coagulation aside, vitamin K-related disease in humans is a widely discussed possibility. However, the manner in which such disease may manifest itself is a subject of speculation.

We are examining the vkorc1 mutant rat and mouse in detail for potential health issues due to vitamin K deficiency.

vkorc1 mutant rats display calcification of the aorta walls
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MRI of a warfarin resistant vkorc1 mutant rat.	microCT scan of the femurs of warfarin resistant vkorc1 mutant rats.