Interactions of Factor XIII Subunits as Studied by Affinity Chromatography

A new method for studying the interactions of plasma factor XIII subunits, as well as purifying both plasma and platelet factor XIII, has been developed using an organomer-curial linked to agarose. Native plasma factor XIII a subunit binds to the ligand accompanied by b subunit, which can be dissociated from the ligated a subunit by treatment with thrombin and calcium. With various combinations of thrombin, calcium, and alteration of ionic strength it has been shown that: (a) both unactivated a subunit and thrombin activated a’ subunit bind to the ligand; (b) “excess” b subunit present in highly purified preparations of plasma factor XIII dissociates and can be eluted at low ionic strength in the absence of calcium or thrombin; (c) in our preparations of highly purified plasma factor XIII approximately 40% of b subunit is in “excess”; (d) the remaining b subunit can be eluted with thrombin and calcium; (e) both a and a’ subunits can be eluted with dithiothreitol ; (f ) when plasma factor XIII zymogen is applied to the column approximately equal amounts of a and b subunits co-elute with dithiothreitol. These observations offer further evidence for the roles of thrombin and calcium in the activation of plasma factor XIII and provide a new tool for studying the structure-function relationships of factor XIII.Supported by Grants HL 14228 and HL 06350 from the National Institutes of Health, U.S.A.