Functional analysis of the EGF-like domain mutations Pro55Ser and Pro55Leu, which cause mild hemophilia B.

We studied the functional role of two mutations, Pro55Ser and Pro55Leu, located in the N-terminal Epidermal Growth Factor-like domain (EGF1) of coagulation factor (F) IX. Both mutations cause mild hemophilia B with habitual FIX coagulant activities of 10-12% and FIX antigen levels of 50%. We found that activation by FVIIa/TF and FXIa was normal for FIXPro55Ser, but resulted in proteolysis of FIXPro55Leu at Arg318-Ser319 with a concomitant loss of amidolytic activity, suggesting intramolecular communication between EGF1 and the serine protease domain in FIX. This was further supported by experiments using an anti-EGF1 monoclonal antibody. Activation of FX by FIXaPro55Ser was impaired in both the presence and the absence of phospholipid or FVIIIa, indicating that Pro55 is not directly involved in binding to FVIIIa. We also studied the effect of the two Pro55 mutations on Ca2+ affinity and found only small changes. Thus, the Pro55Ser mutation causes hemophilia primarily through to an impaired ability to activate FX whereas at least in vitro the Pro55Leu defect interferes with the activation of FIX.

Role of the N-terminal EGF module of coagulation factor IX in activation of factors IX and X.

Absence or reduced activity of coagulation factor IX (FIX) causes the severe bleeding disorder haemophilia B. FIX contains a Gla module, two epidermal growth factor-like (EGF) modules, and a serine protease region. I characterized a monoclonal antibody and found that it recognizes an epitope around residues 72 and 80 in the C-terminal part of EGF1 in human FIX. The antibody exhibited 10-fold greater affinity for activated FIX (FIXa) than for the zymogen FIX, indicating the existence of intra-molecular communication between the serine protease region and EGF1. Binding of the antibody did not affect the amidolytic activity of FIXa, hence I could use the antibody during activation of FIX to show that the C-terminal part of EGF1 is of importance for the interaction with FXIa but not with FVIIa/TF. Considering activation of FX, it is a matter of debate whether EGF1 or FIXa interacts directly with FVIIIa. I activated FX in the presence and absence of the antibody and/or FVIIIa. The addition of antibody caused only a minor decrease in k(cat,app), and the major increase in k(cat,app) caused by the addition of FVIIIa occurred even in the presence of the antibody. This implies that EGF1 of FIXa is not directly involved in interaction with FVIIIa in the Xase complex. A model of the FIXa-FVIIIa complex, based on my findings and results from the literature, was constructed and indicated that EGF1 of FIXa does not interact directly with FVIIIa.