"A" subunit of factor XIII is present on bovine platelet membrane and mediates collagen-induced platelet activation.
The Fab fragment of a polyclonal antibody against platelet factor XIII inhibited the collagen-induced platelet aggregation in a dose-dependent manner. This inhibitory effect was specific for collagen, and it had no effect on arachidonic acid-, ADP-, and serotonin-induced aggregations. This finding strengthens our notion that platelet factor XIII is involved in collagen-induced platelet aggregation. (Saito, Y., Imada, T., Takagi, J., Kikuchi, T. and Inada, Y. J. Biol. Chem. 261, 1355-1358, 1986). We have investigated membrane localization of bovine platelet factor XIII using immunological techniques. Immunofluorescent visualization revealed that the factor XIII was expressed on the surface of non-permeabilized bovine platelets, where we detected neither lactate dehydrogenase, a cytoplasmic enzyme marker, nor B subunit of factor XIII, which is present in plasma. Cell surface iodination and immunoprecipitation also confirmed that it existed on the surface of platelets.