The Binding and Cleavage Characteristics of Human Hageman Factor during Contact Activation

The ability of human Hageman factor (coagulation factor XII) to bind to a glass surface and its susceptibility to limited proteolytic cleavage during the contact activation of plasma have been studied using normal human plasma and plasmas genetically deficient in factor XI, prekallikrein, or high molecular weight kininogen (HMWK). When diluted normal plasma containing (125)I-Hageman factor was exposed to a glass surface for varying times, the Hageman factor was found to bind to the surface, and within 5 min became maximally cleaved from its native 80,000 mol wt to yield fragments of 52,000 and 28,000 mol wt. Hageman factor in factor XI-deficient plasma behaved similarly. In prekallikrein-deficient plasma, the binding of Hageman factor to the glass surface occurred at the same rate as in normal plasma but the cleavage was significantly slower, and did not reach maximum until 60 min of incubation. Cleavage of Hageman factor in HMWK-deficient plasma occurred at an even slower rate, with greater than 110 min of incubation required for maximal cleavage, although the rate of binding to the glass was again the same as in normal plasma. Normal rates of cleavage of Hageman factor were observed for the deficient plasmas after reconstitution with purified human prekallikrein or HMWK, respectively. These observations suggest that normal contact activation in plasma is associated with proteolytic activation of surfacebound Hageman factor. The cleavage of the surface-bound Hageman factor molecule responsible for the formation of the 52,000-and 28,000-mol wt fragments occurred at two closely situated sites, one of which was within a disulfide loop. Cleavage at the site external to the disulfide bond resulted in the release from the surface of the 28,000-mol wt fragment. Cleavage at the site within the disulfide loop resulted in the formation of a 28,000-mol wt fragment which remained surface bound, presumably by virtue of the disulfide linkage to the larger fragment.