Expression of factor X in both the rat brain and cells of the central nervous system.

Prothrombin is expressed in the central and peripheral nervous systems. However, the mechanism responsible for the activation of prothrombin to thrombin by the activated form of factor X in the central and peripheral nervous systems remains to be explored. Here, we investigated the expression of factor X mRNA in the brain and some cell lines derived from the central nervous system. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) demonstrated the expression of mRNA encoding factor X in the rat brain, A172 (human glioblastoma) and GOTO (human neuroblastoma) cells. The sequences of PCR-derived fragments were identical to those reported for rat and human factor X. These results indicated the synthesis of factor X in the cells of the central nervous system.