Tissue factor, also called platelet tissue factor, factor III, or
CD142, is a
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
encoded by the ''F3''
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
, present in
subendothelial tissue and
leukocyte
White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and derived from mult ...
s. Its role in the clotting process is the initiation of
thrombin
Thrombin (, ''fibrinogenase'', ''thrombase'', ''thrombofort'', ''topical'', ''thrombin-C'', ''tropostasin'', ''activated blood-coagulation factor II'', ''blood-coagulation factor IIa'', ''factor IIa'', ''E thrombin'', ''beta-thrombin'', ''gamma- ...
formation from the
zymogen
In biochemistry, a zymogen (), also called a proenzyme (), is an inactive precursor of an enzyme. A zymogen requires a biochemical change (such as a hydrolysis reaction revealing the active site, or changing the configuration to reveal the active ...
prothrombin
Thrombin (, ''fibrinogenase'', ''thrombase'', ''thrombofort'', ''topical'', ''thrombin-C'', ''tropostasin'', ''activated blood-coagulation factor II'', ''blood-coagulation factor IIa'', ''factor IIa'', ''E thrombin'', ''beta-thrombin'', ''gamma- ...
.
Thromboplastin
Thromboplastin (TPL) is derived from cell membranes and is a mixture of both phospholipids and tissue factor, neither of which are enzymes. Thromboplastin acts on and accelerates the activity of Factor Xa, also known as thrombokinase, aiding blood ...
defines the cascade that leads to the activation of
factor X
Factor X, also known by the eponym Stuart–Prower factor, is an enzyme () of the coagulation cascade. It is a serine endopeptidase (protease group S1, PA clan). Factor X is synthesized in the liver and requires vitamin K for its synthesis.
Fa ...
—the tissue factor pathway. In doing so, it has replaced the previously named extrinsic pathway in order to eliminate ambiguity.
Function
The F3 gene encodes coagulation factor III, which is a cell surface
glycoprotein
Glycoproteins are proteins which contain oligosaccharide chains covalently attached to amino acid side-chains. The carbohydrate is attached to the protein in a cotranslational or posttranslational modification. This process is known as glycos ...
. This factor enables cells to initiate the blood coagulation cascades, and it functions as the high-affinity receptor for the
coagulation factor VII. The resulting complex provides a catalytic event that is responsible for initiation of the coagulation protease cascades by specific limited proteolysis. Unlike the other cofactors of these protease cascades, which circulate as nonfunctional precursors, this factor is a potent initiator that is fully functional when expressed on cell surfaces. There are three distinct domains of this factor: extracellular, transmembrane, and cytoplasmic. This protein is the only one in the coagulation pathway for which a congenital deficiency has not been described. In addition to the membrane-bound tissue factor, soluble form of tissue factor was also found which results from
alternatively spliced
Alternative splicing, or alternative RNA splicing, or differential splicing, is an alternative splicing process during gene expression that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins. In this process, particular exons of a gene may be ...
tissue factor mRNA transcripts, in which
exon
An exon is any part of a gene that will form a part of the final mature RNA produced by that gene after introns have been removed by RNA splicing. The term ''exon'' refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene and to the corresponding sequen ...
5 is absent and exon 4 is spliced directly to exon 6.
Coagulation
TF is the cell surface receptor for the
serine protease
Serine proteases (or serine endopeptidases) are enzymes that cleave peptide bonds in proteins. Serine serves as the nucleophilic amino acid at the (enzyme's) active site.
They are found ubiquitously in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. ...
factor VIIa.
The best known function of tissue factor is its role in
blood coagulation. The complex of TF with
factor VII
Coagulation factor VII (, formerly known as proconvertin) is one of the proteins that causes blood to clot in the coagulation cascade, and in humans is coded for by the gene ''F7''. It is an enzyme of the serine protease class. Once bound to tis ...
a catalyzes the conversion of the inactive protease
factor X
Factor X, also known by the eponym Stuart–Prower factor, is an enzyme () of the coagulation cascade. It is a serine endopeptidase (protease group S1, PA clan). Factor X is synthesized in the liver and requires vitamin K for its synthesis.
Fa ...
into the active protease
factor Xa
Factor X, also known by the eponym Stuart–Prower factor, is an enzyme () of the coagulation cascade. It is a serine endopeptidase (protease group S1, PA clan). Factor X is synthesized in the liver and requires vitamin K for its synthesis.
Fa ...
.
Together with factor VIIa, tissue factor forms the extrinsic pathway of coagulation. This is opposed to the intrinsic (amplification) pathway, which involves both activated
factor IX
Factor IX (or Christmas factor) () is one of the serine proteases of the coagulation system; it belongs to peptidase family S1. Deficiency of this protein causes haemophilia B. It was discovered in 1952 after a young boy named Stephen Christmas ...
and
factor VIII
Factor VIII (FVIII) is an essential blood-clotting protein, also known as anti-hemophilic factor (AHF). In humans, factor VIII is encoded by the ''F8'' gene. Defects in this gene result in hemophilia A, a recessive X-linked coagulation disorder. ...
. Both pathways lead to the activation of
factor X
Factor X, also known by the eponym Stuart–Prower factor, is an enzyme () of the coagulation cascade. It is a serine endopeptidase (protease group S1, PA clan). Factor X is synthesized in the liver and requires vitamin K for its synthesis.
Fa ...
(the common pathway), which combines with activated
factor V
Factor V (pronounced factor five) is a protein of the coagulation system, rarely referred to as proaccelerin or labile factor. In contrast to most other coagulation factors, it is not enzymatically active but functions as a cofactor. Deficienc ...
in the presence of calcium and
phospholipid
Phospholipids, are a class of lipids whose molecule has a hydrophilic "head" containing a phosphate group and two hydrophobic "tails" derived from fatty acids, joined by an alcohol residue (usually a glycerol molecule). Marine phospholipids typ ...
to produce
thrombin
Thrombin (, ''fibrinogenase'', ''thrombase'', ''thrombofort'', ''topical'', ''thrombin-C'', ''tropostasin'', ''activated blood-coagulation factor II'', ''blood-coagulation factor IIa'', ''factor IIa'', ''E thrombin'', ''beta-thrombin'', ''gamma- ...
(thromboplastin activity).
Cytokine signaling
TF is related to a protein family known as the
cytokine receptor class II family. The members of this receptor family are activated by
cytokines
Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins (~5–25 kDa) important in cell signaling. Cytokines are peptides and cannot cross the lipid bilayer of cells to enter the cytoplasm. Cytokines have been shown to be involved in autocrin ...
. Cytokines are small proteins that can influence the behavior of
white blood cell
White blood cells, also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cell (biology), cells of the immune system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign invaders. All white blood cells are produced and de ...
s. Binding of VIIa to TF has also been found to start signaling processes inside the cell. The signaling function of TF/VIIa plays a role in
angiogenesis
Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature by processes of sprouting and splitting ...
and
apoptosis
Apoptosis (from grc, ἀπόπτωσις, apóptōsis, 'falling off') is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes (morphology) and death. These changes incl ...
. Pro-inflammatory and pro-angiogenic responses are activated by TF/VIIa mediated-cleavage by the protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2). EphB2 and EphA2 of the Eph tyrosine kinase receptor (RTK) family can also be cleaved by TF/VIIa.
Structure
Tissue factor belongs to the
cytokine receptor
Cytokine receptors are receptors that bind to cytokines.
In recent years, the cytokine receptors have come to demand the attention of more investigators than cytokines themselves, partly because of their remarkable characteristics, and partly be ...
protein superfamily
A protein superfamily is the largest grouping (clade) of proteins for which common ancestry can be inferred (see homology (biology), homology). Usually this common ancestry is inferred from structural alignment and mechanistic similarity, even if n ...
and consists of three
domain
Domain may refer to:
Mathematics
*Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined
**Domain of definition of a partial function
**Natural domain of a partial function
**Domain of holomorphy of a function
* Do ...
s:
# an extracellular domain, which consists of two
fibronectin
Fibronectin is a high- molecular weight (~500-~600 kDa) glycoprotein of the extracellular matrix that binds to membrane-spanning receptor proteins called integrins. Fibronectin also binds to other extracellular matrix proteins such as collage ...
type III modules whose hydrophobic cores merge in the domain-domain interface. This serves as a (probably rigid) template for
factor VIIa
Coagulation factor VII (, formerly known as proconvertin) is one of the proteins that causes blood to clot in the coagulation cascade, and in humans is coded for by the gene ''F7''. It is an enzyme of the serine protease class. Once bound to tiss ...
binding.
# a
transmembrane
A transmembrane protein (TP) is a type of integral membrane protein that spans the entirety of the cell membrane. Many transmembrane proteins function as gateways to permit the transport of specific substances across the membrane. They frequentl ...
domain.
# a cytosolic domain of 21 amino acids length inside the cell which is involved in the signaling function of TF.
Note that one of factor VIIa's domains,
GLA domain
Vitamin K-dependent carboxylation/gamma-carboxyglutamic (GLA) domain is a protein domain that contains post-translational modifications of many glutamate residues by vitamin K-dependent carboxylation to form γ-carboxyglutamate (Gla). Proteins wi ...
, binds in the presence of calcium to negatively charged
phospholipids
Phospholipids, are a class of lipids whose molecule has a hydrophilic "head" containing a phosphate group and two hydrophobic "tails" derived from fatty acids, joined by an alcohol residue (usually a glycerol molecule). Marine phospholipids typ ...
, and this binding greatly enhances factor VIIa binding to tissue factor.
Tissue distribution
Some cells release TF in response to blood vessel damage (see next paragraph) and some do only in response to inflammatory mediators (endothelial cells/macrophages).
TF is expressed by cells which are normally not exposed to flowing blood, such as sub-endothelial cells (e.g.
smooth muscle cell
Smooth muscle is an involuntary non-striated muscle, so-called because it has no sarcomeres and therefore no striations (''bands'' or ''stripes''). It is divided into two subgroups, single-unit and multiunit smooth muscle. Within single-unit mus ...
s) and cells surrounding blood vessels (e.g.
fibroblast
A fibroblast is a type of cell (biology), biological cell that synthesizes the extracellular matrix and collagen, produces the structural framework (Stroma (tissue), stroma) for animal Tissue (biology), tissues, and plays a critical role in wound ...
s). This can change when the blood vessel is damaged by, for example, physical injury or rupture of
atherosclerotic plaque
An atheroma, or atheromatous plaque, is an abnormal and reversible accumulation of material in the inner layer of an arterial wall.
The material consists of mostly macrophage cells, or debris, containing lipids, calcium and a variable amount o ...
s. Exposure of TF-expressing cells during injury allows the complex formation of TF with factor VII. Factor VII and TF form an equimolar complex in the presence of calcium ions, leading to the activation of factor VII on a membrane surface.
The inner surface of the blood vessel consists of endothelial cells. Endothelial cells do not express TF except when they are exposed to inflammatory molecules such as
tumor necrosis factor-alpha
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF, cachexin, or cachectin; formerly known as tumor necrosis factor alpha or TNF-α) is an adipokine and a cytokine. TNF is a member of the TNF superfamily, which consists of various transmembrane proteins with a homolog ...
(TNF-alpha). Another cell type that expresses TF on the cell surface in inflammatory conditions is the
monocyte
Monocytes are a type of leukocyte or white blood cell. They are the largest type of leukocyte in blood and can differentiate into macrophages and conventional dendritic cells. As a part of the vertebrate innate immune system monocytes also inf ...
(a white blood cell).
Thromboplastin
Historically,
thromboplastin
Thromboplastin (TPL) is derived from cell membranes and is a mixture of both phospholipids and tissue factor, neither of which are enzymes. Thromboplastin acts on and accelerates the activity of Factor Xa, also known as thrombokinase, aiding blood ...
was a lab reagent, usually derived from placental sources, used to assay
prothrombin time
The prothrombin time (PT) – along with its derived measures of prothrombin ratio (PR) and international normalized ratio (INR) – is an assay for evaluating the ''extrinsic'' pathway and common pathway of coagulation. This blood test is als ...
s (PT time). Thromboplastin, by itself, could activate the extrinsic coagulation pathway. When manipulated in the laboratory, a derivative could be created called partial thromboplastin, which was used to measure the intrinsic pathway. This test is called the
aPTT
The partial thromboplastin time (PTT), also known as the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT or APTT), is a blood test that characterizes coagulation of the blood. A historical name for this measure is the kaolin-cephalin clotting time ( ...
, or activated partial thromboplastin time. It was not until much later that the subcomponents of thromboplastin and partial thromboplastin were identified. Thromboplastin contains phospholipids as well as tissue factor, both of which are needed in the activation of the extrinsic pathway, whereas partial thromboplastin does not contain tissue factor. Tissue factor is not needed to activate the intrinsic pathway.
Interactions
Tissue factor has been shown to
interact
Advocates for Informed Choice, dba interACT or interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization using innovative strategies to advocate for the legal and human rights of children with intersex traits. The organizati ...
with
Factor VII
Coagulation factor VII (, formerly known as proconvertin) is one of the proteins that causes blood to clot in the coagulation cascade, and in humans is coded for by the gene ''F7''. It is an enzyme of the serine protease class. Once bound to tis ...
.
Additional images
Image:Tissue factor.png, Tissue factor
File:Fibrin-nach-Thromboplastin.jpg, Blood plasma after the addition of tissue factor
See also
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Hemostasis
In biology, hemostasis or haemostasis is a process to prevent and stop bleeding, meaning to keep blood within a damaged blood vessel (the opposite of hemostasis is hemorrhage). It is the first stage of wound healing. This involves coagulation, whi ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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* —March 2006
PDBe-KBprovides an overview of all the structure information available in the PDB for Human Tissue factor
{{Clusters of differentiation
CD142
Coagulation system