Abstract
Vitamin K was discovered as an essential factor in blood coagulation in 1929. Subsequent research has reported the intricate metabolic pathway of the vitamin K cycle and has also revealed its diverse physiological roles beyond coagulation. In addition, warfarin, a vitamin K antagonist, has widely used as an anticoagulant drug worldwide. Our recent study has unveiled an additional physiological function of vitamin K, i.e., its role in inhibiting ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death, through our study on cell death. Furthermore, in our study on the role of vitamin K in inhibiting ferroptosis, ferroptosis suppressor protein-1 (FSP1) has been identified to be warfarin-resistant vitamin K reductase, although the molecular identity of warfarin-resistant vitamin K reductase has not been clarified for over five decades despite its acknowledged existence. This finding has led to elucidation for the molecular mechanism underlying the antidotal effect of vitamin K against warfarin poisoning.
