TY - JOUR AB - Vitamin K‑dependent proteins (VKDPs) are a group of proteins that need vitamin K to conduct carboxylation. Thus far, scholars have identified a total of 17 VKDPs in the human body. In this review, we summarize three important emerging VKDPs: Growth arrest‑specific protein 6 (Gas 6), Gla‑rich protein (GRP) and periostin in terms of their functions in physiological and pathological conditions. As examples, carboxylated Gas 6 and GRP effectively protect blood vessels from calcification, Gas 6 protects from acute kidney injury and is involved in chronic kidney disease, GRP contributes to bone homeostasis and delays the progression of osteoarthritis, and periostin is involved in all phases of fracture healing and assists myocardial regeneration in the early stages of myocardial infarction. However, periostin participates in the progression of cardiac fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and airway remodeling of asthma. In addition, we discuss the relationship between vitamin K, VKDPs and cancer, and particularly the carboxylation state of VKDPs in cancer. AD - Department of Physiology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116044, P.R. China Sungen Bioscience Co., Ltd., Shantou, Guangdong 515071, P.R. China AU - Xiao,Huiyu AU - Chen,Jiepeng AU - Duan,Lili AU - Li,Shuzhuang DA - 2021/03/01 DO - 10.3892/ijmm.2020.4835 IS - 3 JO - Int J Mol Med KW - vitamin K‑dependent proteins bone heart kidney calcification cancer idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis asthma PY - 2021 SN - 1107-3756 1791-244X SP - 2 ST - Role of emerging vitamin K‑dependent proteins: Growth arrest‑specific protein 6, Gla‑rich protein and periostin (Review) T2 - International Journal of Molecular Medicine TI - Role of emerging vitamin K‑dependent proteins: Growth arrest‑specific protein 6, Gla‑rich protein and periostin (Review) UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2020.4835 VL - 47 ER -