Surface activation of blood coagulation, fibrinolysis and kinin formation.

The activation of plasma prekallikrein by single-chain factor XII has been studied in the presence of high molecular weight kininogen and kaolin. The data indicate that factor XII can initiate blood coagulation, fibrinolysis or kinin generation in the presence of kaolin and does so by converting prekallikrein to kallikrein. An enzyme cascade is then generated leading to the formation of fibrin, plasmin or bradykinin in three closely related physiological events.