Wolfgang Miesbach: How Does Protein S Inhibition Restore Hemostasis in von Willebrand Disease?
Wolfgang Miesbach, Professor of Medicine at Frankfurt University Hospital, shared a post on LinkedIn about a recent article by Yumiko Sakurai, published in Blood:
“How Does Protein S Inhibition Restore Hemostasis in von Willebrand Disease?
At EAHAD2026, fascinating microfluidics data from Emory University shed light on VGA039’s mechanism in VWD.
The connection isn’t immediately obvious:
VWD stems from insufficient platelet adhesion due to low or dysfunctional VWF.
Protein S is a cofactor for activated protein C, regulating thrombin generation.
Findings from the Ex Vivo Model, The haemostasis-on-a-chip data demonstrated that VGA039:
- Significantly shortened bleeding times in VWD patient blood
- Accelerated platelet deposition (p<0.004)
- Enhanced fibrin accumulation (p<0.008)
- Restored haemostasis through dual inhibition of TFPI and aPC pathways
The Mechanistic Insight:
The answer lies at the microvascular level.
By neutralizing Protein S’s dual activities (cofactor for protein C and TFPI inhibitor), VGA039 allows enhanced local thrombin generation specifically at microvascular sites – precisely where VWF normally enables platelet adhesion and where most bleeding occurs in VWD patients.
Congratulations to Yumiko Sakurai and co-authors.”
Title: A protein S-targeting monoclonal antibody, VGA039, improves both primary and secondary hemostatic activity of von Willebrand disease patient blood in an ex vivo vascularized hemostasis-on-a-chip
Authors: Yumiko Sakurai, Megan Brown, Yongzhi Qiu, Elaissa Hardy, Tony Byun, Sandip Panicker, Wilbur Lam
Read the Full Article on Blood
Find more posts featuring Wolfgang Miesbach on Hemostasis Today.
-
Sep 29, 2026, 03:53Nahrwan Masaoodi: Iron Deficiency Can Exist Without Anemia
-
Sep 29, 2026, 03:38Muhammad Yousaf: Iron Deficiency Beyond Diet
-
Sep 29, 2026, 03:21Parvez Ahmed Chowdhury: Synthesizing Aspirin in the Organic Chemistry Lab
-
Sep 29, 2026, 03:12Ahmed Hamandi: Building the Future of Hematopoietic Transplantation in Iraq
-
Sep 29, 2026, 03:09M V Chandrakanth: Aspirin in CRC – Old Drug, New Precision Oncology?
-
Sep 29, 2026, 03:07Caroline Pothet: Advancing Treatment Development in Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassaemia
-
Sep 29, 2026, 02:53Astha Jain: Thalassemia Care Through a Public Health Lens
-
Sep 29, 2026, 02:50Emma Groarke: Starting a New Career Path in Homeland
-
Sep 28, 2026, 19:14Aditya Sharma: An Outstanding Start to the Final Day of VSS 2026!