Factor XI

Factor XI or plasma thromboplastin antecedent is the zymogen form of factor XIa, one of the enzymes of the coagulation cascade. Like many other coagulation factors, it is a serine protease. In humans, Factor XI is encoded by the F11 gene. Factor XI (FXI) is produced by the liver and circulates as a homo-dimer in its inactive form. The plasma half-life of FXI is approximately 52 hours. The zymogen factor is activated into factor XIa by factor XIIa (FXIIa), thrombin, and FXIa itself; due to its activation by FXIIa, FXI is a member of the "contact pathway" (which includes HMWK, prekallikrein, factor XII, factor XI, and factor IX). Factor XIa activates factor IX by selectively cleaving arg-ala and arg-val peptide bonds. Factor IXa, in turn, forms a complex with Factor VIIIa (FIXa-FVIIIa) and activates factor X. Physiological inhibitors of factor XIa include protein Z-dependent protease inhibitor (ZPI, a member of the serine protease inhibitor/serpin class of proteins), which is independent of protein Z (its action on factor X, however, is protein Z-dependent, hence its name). Although synthesized as a single polypeptide chain, FXI circulates as a homodimer. Every chain has a relative molecular mass of approximately 80000. Typical plasma concentrations of FXI are 5 μg/mL, corresponding to a plasma concentration (of FXI dimers) of approximately 30 nM. The FXI gene is 23kb in length, has 15 exons, and is found on chromosome 4q32-35. Factor XI consists of four apple domains, that create a disk-like platform around the base of a fifth, catalytic serine protease domain. One contains a binding site for thrombin, another for high molecular weight kininogen, a third one for factor IX, heparin and glycoprotein Ib and the fourth is implicated in forming the factor XI homodimer, including a cysteine residue that creates a disulfide bond. In the homodimer, the apple domains create two disk-like platforms connected together at an angle, with the catalytic domains sticking out at each side of the dimer.