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Mettine Bos

Mettine Bos PhD
Ever since my graduate work at the Dept. of Plasma Proteins at Sanquin Research (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and postdoctoral fellowship in the Camire Lab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, US), I have been interested in the molecular mechanisms that regulate the complex cascade of enzymatic reactions hallmarking blood coagulation.

Previously, during my Judith Graham Pool Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, I have identified structural determinants on blood coagulation factors V and VIII that are important for their activation to a cofactor. In addition, I also investigated evolutionary aspects of factor V, which resulted in the identification and biochemical characterization of the unique procoagulant properties of a variant of factor V that is found in the venom of the Australian common brown snake P. textilis.

Since transitioning to the Einthoven Laboratory as a Marie Curie Fellow and BHAP Early Career Investigator, I have extended my research focus to defining the exact role of the negatively charged phospholipid surface, such as that of activated platelets or endothelial cells, in the macromolecular enzymatic complex assembly of the coagulation cofactor Va and serine protease factor Xa. To address this longstanding issue, I particularly focus on the structure-function relationships of these important coagulation factors. The knowledge gained will provide a framework to develop therapeutic coagulation proteins for the prevention and treatment of conditions associated with a deregulated blood coagulation response.

Current and previous research funding has been provided by the Landsteiner Foundation for Blood Transfusion Research, Bayer Hemophilia Awards Program, Dutch Thrombosis Foundation, National Blood Foundation, and European Union FP7 People Program.