von Willebrand factor

noun

: a large glycoprotein clotting factor circulating in blood plasma that mediates platelet adhesion to collagen at sites of vascular injury, that binds to and protects factor VIII from degradation, and that is deficient or defective in individuals affected with von Willebrand disease

called also VW factor

Note: Von Willebrand factor is synthesized in endothelial cells of blood vessels and in megakaryocytes of bone marrow.

Examples of von Willebrand factor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But there’s another interesting layer to a potential protective element in Type O blood: something called von Willebrand factor, which is a glycoprotein in charge of repairing damage to blood vessels by prompting your blood to clot. —Rachael Schultz, Men's Health, 7 Mar. 2022

Normally, most factor VIII is stabilized in the body by another protein, von Willebrand factor (VWF), which also protects the clotting factor from disintegrating. —Rebekah Tuchscherer, Science | AAAS, 9 Sep. 2020

Word History

Etymology

after Erik Adolf von Willebrand †1949 Finnish physician

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

von Willebrand factor

noun

von Wil·​le·​brand factor vän-ˈvil-ə-ˌbränt- 

: a large glycoprotein clotting factor circulating in blood plasma that mediates platelet adhesion to collagen at sites of vascular injury, that binds to and protects factor VIII from degradation, and that is deficient or defective in individuals affected with von Willebrand disease

Patients are deficient in the von Willebrand factor, one of the many blood-clotting proteins.

—Paul G. Donohue, The Springfield (Massachusetts) Union-News

Note: Von Willebrand factor is synthesized in endothelial cells of blood vessels and in megakaryocytes of bone marrow.

called also VW factor