In the contact phase of activation of the kinin-forming, intrinsic clotting, and fibrinolytic systems, high-molecular-weight kininogen acts as a cofactor for the activation of Factor XI, prekallikrein, and Hageman factor. One mechanism by which high-molecular-weight kininogen acts as a cofactor has been studied by using 125f-labeled Factor XI and prekallikrein in kaolin-activated normal human plasma and plasmas deficient in high-molecular-weight kininogen and Hageman factor. High-molecular-weight kininogen was found to be essential for normal binding and cleavage of both Factor XI and prekallikrein on the kaolin surface. Hageman factor was essential for cleavage but not for binding of Factor XI and prekallikrein to kaolin. In normal plasma 80% of the activated Factor XI remained surface-bound, whereas 80% of the kallikrein was not surface-bound. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that, in the initial phase of contact activation, high-molecular-weight kininogen links both Factor XI and prekallikrein to the exposed surface where they are activated by surface-bound activated Hageman factor. Once activated, the Factor XI molecules remain localized at the site of activation, in contrast to the kallikrein molecules which are found largely in the surrounding plasma.Activation of Hageman factor (Factor XII) upon a negatively charged surface initiates intrinsic coagulation, fibrinolysis, and the generation of vasoactive peptides (1-5). High-molecularweight (Mr) kininogen is a cofactor for the optimal activation of surface-bound Hageman factor by kallikrein (6-8) and for the activation of prekallikrein and Factor XI by surface-bound activated Hageman factor (6-8). Prekallikrein is complexed to high Mr kininogen in plasma (9). Recent studies (10; R. C. Wiggins, B. N. Bouma, C. G. Cochrane, and J. H. Griffin, unpublished data) suggest that Factor XI is also complexed to high Mr kininogen in plasma. In this study we demonstrate that one mechanism by which high Mr kininogen acts as a cofactor for the activation of both Factor XI and prekallikrein in plasma is to bind both these molecules to the surface where they are activated by surface-bound activated Hageman factor. We also demonstrate that, while activated Factor XI remains associated with the surface, kallikrein dissociates from the surface.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Purified proteinsFactor XI was isolated from normal human plasma as described elsewhere (11) and was determined to be more than 95% homogeneous on sodium dodecyl sulfate (NaDodSO4/polyacrylamide gels. The purified protein had a specific clotting activity of 220 units/mg, where 1 clotting unit is defined as the amount of activity present in 1 ml of citrated normal human plasma. Factor XI was radiolabeled with '25iodine by the insolubilized lactoperoxidase method (12). The 125I-labeled Factor XI (125I-Factor XI), 5 ,uCi/,ug, retained its procoagulant activities at 3.6 clotting units/ml.Prekallikrein was isolated from normal human plasma by a method similar to that described for Factor XI (11...