GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:12726

VWF

von Willebrand factor

protein-coding gene12p13.31Gene information

What does this gene do?

The VWF gene provides instructions for making a blood clotting protein called von Willebrand factor. This protein contains regions that attach (bind) to specific cells and proteins during the formation of a blood clot. After an injury, clots protect the body by sealing off damaged blood vessels and preventing further blood loss.

Von Willebrand factor is made within endothelial cells, which line the inside surface of blood vessels, and bone marrow cells. The factor is made of several identical subunits. To facilitate binding to various cells and proteins, these subunits are cut into smaller pieces by an enzyme called ADAMTS13. Von Willebrand factor helps platelets stick together and adhere to the walls of blood vessels at the site of a wound. These groups of platelets form temporary clots, plugging holes in blood vessel walls to help stop bleeding. Von Willebrand factor also carries another blood clotting protein, coagulation factor VIII, to the area of clot formation.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2020-08-18. Source review: 2008-02.

ClinGen reviews

ClinGen reviews the evidence linking a particular gene to a condition. Each rating below describes the strength of that link. It does not classify a variant in your DNA file.

Condition	Inheritance	Evidence
hereditary von Willebrand diseaseMONDO:0019565 · Evaluated 2020-09-23	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveHemostasis/Thrombosis Gene Curation Expert Panel
von Willebrand disease type 2BMONDO:0015629 · Evaluated 2020-09-23	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveHemostasis/Thrombosis Gene Curation Expert Panel

ClinVar records

These numbers show what has been submitted to ClinVar. They cannot tell you how likely you are to have a condition.

Submitted alleles: 2,283
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 5,012
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 4,852
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 506
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 1,023
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 101

The rows count different things: alleles, submissions or VariationIDs. Their categories can overlap, so do not add them together. Pathogenic/likely pathogenic counts exclude structural variants that merely overlap a gene. A dash in the source means “not reported,” not zero.

NCBI produces the gene-summary file each week using counts recorded at the start of the month. The numbers may differ from those on the live ClinVar website. Read the field definitions ↗

View this gene in ClinVar ↗

YOUR DNA FILE

Can your DNA file tell you about VWF?

From a DNA test kit (such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA or MyHeritage). These kits check a fixed list of about 600,000 to 700,000 positions across your whole genome. ClinVar lists 506 alleles in VWF reported as pathogenic or likely pathogenic. A kit checks only some of these positions, and often none of them.

From whole genome sequencing (a VCF file). Sequencing reads most of your genome. Your file lists the places where your DNA differs from the reference genome. Some regions are hard to sequence, including parts of some genes that have near-identical copies elsewhere, and a VCF file does not record which positions were read well.

If a variant is not in your file, that does not mean you don’t have it.

What BioDecode checks

BioDecode compares every variant in your file with ClinVar, on your own computer. For each match, it shows the ClinVar classification, the review status and the condition it was reported for. Your file is not uploaded.

A ClinVar classification applies to one particular variant and the condition it was reported for. It does not tell you about other variants in VWF.

BioDecode cannot fill gaps in your test, diagnose a condition or replace clinical testing.

Buy BioDecode See a sample report →Check file compatibility →