Summary
Bovine prothrombin was prepared by adsorption on barium sulfate. After elution, it was passed through thick filter-cakes of Standard Super-Cel, which removed some venom substrate (factor X). Almost all the remaining venom substrate was removed by repeated passage through columns of DEAE-cellulose. Finally, the ratio of venom substrate to prothrombin was considerably less than 1/1,000 that of plasma. The prothrombin was also poor in factor V. It yielded very little thrombin upon incubation with Russell’s viper venom, factor V, phospholipid and calcium chloride. However, inclusion of bovine plasma at a final dilution of 1/10,000 caused the mixture to produce thrombin rapidly. This system offers promise for the assay of venom substrate in plasma.
Thrombokinase derived from bovine plasma was able, at 0.000071 mg/ml, to substitute for both the venom and its substrate in thrombin-producing systems. However, with this small amount of thrombokinase, phospholipid was indispensable. The system was sensitive to 0.00001 mg phospholipid/ml.
With 1,000 times as much thrombokinase, prothrombin was activated without addition of accessory factors, in the presence of oxalate. Removal of venom substrate did not affect this response of prothrombin. Nor did removal of venom substrate from the prothrombin prevent its activation by crystallized trypsin in the presence of oxalate.
