Studies on prekallikrein of bovine plasma. II. Activation of prekallikrein with proteinases and properties of kallikrein activated by bovine Hageman factor.

Activation of bovine plasma prekallikrein was investigated with several proteinases. Highly purified bovine plasma prekallikrein was rapidly activated to kallikrein [EC 3.4.21.8] by bovine activated Hageman factor, trypsin [EC 3.4.21.4] and Pronase P (proteinases from Streptomyces griseus) and more gradually by papain [EC 3.4.22.2] and ficin [EC 3.4.22.3]. Activation of prekallikrein was also observed with bovine plasmin [EC 3.4.21.7], but not with bovine clotting factors Xa (Stuart factor) [EC 3.4.21.6] and IXa (Christmas factor) or thrombin [EC 3.4.21.5]. Urokinase [EC 3.4.99.26], Reptilase, collagenase [EC 3.4.24.3], elastase [EC 3.4.21.11], alpha-chymotrypsin [EC 3.4.21.1], Nagarse [EC 3.4.21.14], and stem bromelain [EC 3.4.22 4] did not convert prekallikrein to kallikrein. Plasma kallikrein activated to Hageman factor released kinin rapidly from bovine high molecular weight (HMW) kininogen. However, from bovine low molecular weight (LMW) kininogen, liberation of kinin was extremely slow. The kallikrein activity was inhibited by soybean trypsin inhibitor (SBTI), Trasylol, diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP), and N-alpha-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethylketone (TLCK), but not by egg-white trypsin inhibitor (EWTI), lima bean trypsin inhibitor (LBTI), heparin or hexadimethrine bromide (Polybrene). The kallikrein formed an enzyme-inhibitor complex with SBTI and Trasylol, but not with LBTI. Prekallikrein did not react with SBTI. Prekallikrein consists of a single polypeptide chain of molecular weight about 90,000, as estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Activation of prekallikrein by Hageman factor was found to involve cleavage of the single peptide bond on the disulfide-bridged polypeptide chain, and no change of molecular weight was observed during the activation. The peptide bond cleaved in prekallikrein by the activation was an Arg-X peptide bond on a disulfide-bridged polypeptide chain.