Platelet Coagulation Factor XI a -Inhibitor, a Form of Alzheimer Amyloid Precursor Protein

Abstract

An inhibitor of coagulation factor XIa was purified from serum-free conditioned medium of HepG2 liver cells. Platelets stimulated with thrombin or calcium ionophore (A23187) secrete a protein functionally and immunologically identical to the inhibitor, implying a role for this inhibitor in hemostasis. Analysis of the amino-terminal amino acid sequence and immunologic reactivity showed the inhibitor to be a truncated form of the Alzheimer's amyloid precursor protein that contains a Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor domain and at least a portion of the amyloid beta protein. It inhibits factor XIa and trypsin with a Ki of 450 +/- 50 pM and 20 +/- 10 pM, respectively. Heparin (1 unit/ml) did not significantly effect inhibition of trypsin, but inhibition of XIa was 15 times greater (Ki = 25 +/- 15 pM) in the presence of heparin.