Coagulation Factor VIII Enhances the Cleavage of Von Willebrand Factor By ADAMTS13 In Vivo

Introduction: Coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) and von Willebrand factor (VWF) circulate as a noncovalent complex. This interaction helps increase the half-life of circulating FVIII and modulates FVIII immunogenicity. Our previous studies demonstrate that FVIII accelerates VWF proteolysis by ADAMTS13 in vitro under fluidic shear or under certain pathophysiological conditions. However, the physiological relevance of the FVIII-enhanced VWF proteolysis remains questionable. Here, we sought to determine if addition of recombinant FVIII at various concentrations to mice with or without circulating ADAMTS13 or to patients with hereditary thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) affects plasma VWF multimer distribution and its antigen levels. Methods: Recombinant human B-domain deleted FVIII (rFVIII) was intravenously administered into wild-type (WT),Adamts13+/-(A13+/-) and Adamts13-/- (A13-/-) mice. Blood samples were collected prior to and 24 hours following rFVIII infusion. In addition, FVIII was stably expressed in fviii-/-mice via administration of AAV8-BDDFVIII. Moreover, plasma was collected from patients with hereditary TTP who were treated with plasma derived FVIII concentrates. Plasma VWF multimers and antigen levels were determined by SDS-agarose gel electrophoresis followed by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), respectively. Paired T and Mann Whitney tests were performed to determine the statistical significance of the difference between two groups. Results: Our results demonstrated that an infusion of rFVIII at a low dose (40 ug/kg) and a high dose (160 ug/kg) into WT mice resulted in a dramatic reduction in plasma VWF multimer sizes (Fig. 1) and VWF antigen levels (not shown). FVIII at high dose but not at low dose could also significantly reduce the sizes of VWF multimers in Adamts13+/- and Adamts13-/- mice (Fig. 1). The enhanced degradation of VWF multimers in Adamts13-/- mice suggests that other VWF-cleaving enzymes may participate in the degradation of VWF-FVIII complex. In either Adamts13+/- or Adamts13-/- mice, administration of rFVIII at both low and high doses didn't result in significant changes in VWF antigen levels (not shown). Furthermore, a simultaneous infusion of both rFVIII and recombinant murine ADAMTS13 (rADAMTS13) into Adamts13-/- mice resulted in similar changes in plasma VWF multimer distribution (Fig. 1) and antigen levels (not shown). Importantly, all mice tolerated well to the high dose of rFVIII infusion without major thrombotic events during weeks of follow-up. The restoration of plasma FVIII to 100-200% of normal levels in the fviii-/- mice with AAV8-mediated gene therapy also led to a profound degradation of plasma VWF multimers and significantly reduced plasma levels of VWF antigen (not shown). Finally, a similar pattern of dramatically reduced plasma VWF multimers was observed in 3 out of 4 patients with hereditary TTP following treatment with plasma-derived FVIII concentrates (not shown). Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that supplementation of FVIII at physiological or super-physiological concentrations dramatically accelerates the degradation of VWF multimers in mice and human. These findings further support our hypothesis that FVIII is a physiological cofactor of ADAMTS13 in regulating VWF homeostasis. Our findings may also offer a scientific explanation how FVIII concentrates or perhaps rFVIII might work for the treatment of hereditary TTP and other arterial thrombosis. Figure 1View largeDownload PPTFigure 1View largeDownload PPT Close modal