Adhesive receptor Mac-1 coordinates the activation of factor X on stimulated cells of monocytic and myeloid differentiation: an alternative initiation of the coagulation protease cascade.

Monocytes initiate coagulation through regulated surface expression of tissue factor and local assembly of a proteolytic enzymatic complex formed by tissue factor and factor VII/activated factor VII. We now show that, in the absence of these initiating molecules, monocytes and cell lines of monocytic/myeloid differentiation can alternatively initiate coagulation after exposure to ADP. The molecular basis for this procoagulant response consists of two distinct events. First, cell stimulation with ADP induces high-affinity binding of coagulation factor X to the surface-adhesive receptor Mac-1. Locally, Mac-1-concentrated factor X is then rapidly proteolytically cleaved to an active protease with size and activity characteristics of activated factor X, which supports the cell-associated formation of thrombin and the procoagulant response. We conclude that the monocytic/myeloid adhesive receptor Mac-1 has the unexpected, specifically inducible property to organize a molecular assembly culminating in rapid fibrin formation that is independently regulated from tissue factor and factor VII/activated factor VII.