Leon J. Schurgers

Professor of Biochemistry

Initially trained in clinical chemistry and haemostasis at Heerlen Applied Science University, Dr. Schurgers obtained his PhD in Biochemistry in 2002 on the role of vitamin K1 and K2 on bone metabolism and cardiovascular disease.  

The focus of his current work is elucidating the molecular mechanisms of vitamin K-dependent proteins (VKDP) by which vascular calcification is initiated and propagated: key cellular events include activation and apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and the formation of matrix vesicles and apoptotic bodies containing VKDP. The regulation of VKDP biosynthesis, its sites of action and its putative relationship with VSMC apoptosis is insufficient to understand the pathogenesis of vascular calcification at a level that allows the development of novel diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies for VKDP.

Importantly, our work will help to understand the paradoxal observation that patients with low vitamin K-status during oral anticoagulant treatment develop enhanced vascular calcification and our results might provide new insights in prognostic and preventive measures.