Abstract
Vitamin K is an essential cofactor of γ-carboxylase which is involved in the activation of the cascade of blood coagulation and bone formation. Recent researches have revealed that vitamin K possesses physiological functions to regulate the transcription of factors participating in bone formation via the steroid and xenobiotic receptor (SXR), a nuclear receptor, and to induce the differentiation of cranial nerve progenitor cells to neuronal cells. Therefore, we synthesized vitamin K analogues by introducing substituent groups to the side chain part at ω-position and explored whether the synthesized vitamin K analogues possesses new biological activities for transcription via SXR and neuronal differentiation. The vitamin K derivatives with modification of the structure of vitamin K2 were found to have much more potent biological activities for transcription via SXR and neuronal differentiation than original vitamin K2.
