Factor Va, the essential cofactor for prothrombinase, is phosphorylated on the acidic COOH terminus of the heavy chain of the cofactor, at Ser 692 , by a platelet membrane-associated casein kinase II (CKII). Consistent with this observation, phosphorylation of the factor Va heavy chain by the platelet kinase was inhibited by heparin. The membrane-associated platelet CKII kinase was partially purified using heparin-agarose, phosphocellulose, and ion exchange chromatography. CKII antigen was monitored using a polyclonal antibody to the ␣-subunit, and kinase activity in the various fractions was confirmed using human factor Va as a substrate. Immunoblotting experiments using polyclonal antibodies raised against synthetic peptides mimicking a portion of the deduced amino acid sequence of the ␣-, ␣ -, and -subunits of human CKII demonstrated the coexistence of both ␣-and ␣ -subunits in platelets and suggested that the platelet CKII kinase may exist in part as an ␣␣  2 complex. It is also possible that there are two distinct populations of CKII in platelets, one that is ␣␣/ and one that is ␣ ␣ /. In the presence of the purified platelet-derived CKII, human factor Va incorporates between 0.8 and 1.3 mol of phosphate/mol of factor Va depending on the concentration of the -subunit in the kinase preparation. A peptide mimicking the sequence 687-705 of the human factor V molecule incorporates radioactivity in the presence of purified CKII and inhibits factor Va heavy chain phosphorylation by the platelet CKII. In contrast, a peptide with an alanine instead of a serine at position 692 neither incorporates phosphate nor inhibits factor Va phosphorylation by the platelet CKII. Human factor Va is inactivated by activated protein C following three cleavages of the heavy chain at Arg 506 , Arg 306 , and Arg 679 . Cleavage at Arg 506 is necessary for efficient exposure of the inactivating cleavage site at Arg 306 . The phosphorylated cofactor has increased susceptibility to inactivation by activated protein C, since phosphorylated factor Va was found to be inactivated approximately 3-fold faster than its native counterpart. Acceleration of the inactivation process of the phosphorylated cofactor occurs because of acceleration of the rate of cleavage at Arg 506 . These data suggest a critical role for factor Va phosphorylation on the surface of platelets in regulating cofactor activity.Coagulation factor Va is the cofactor for prothrombinase (1, 2). Factor Va combines with the serine protease factor Xa on a phospholipid or platelet surface in the presence of divalent cations to catalyze the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin. Factor Xa alone can activate prothrombin to ␣-thrombin. However, the binding of factor Va to factor Xa on a membrane surface in the presence of Ca 2ϩ increases the efficiency of the complex by 5 orders of magnitude as compared with factor Xa alone (3).Most of the factor V is found in the plasma, where it circulates at a concentration of 7 g/ml (20 nM). Approximately 20% of the total human factor V fo...