Properties of the clotting enzyme responsible for endotoxin-mediated Limulus coagulation

A clotting enzyme, associated with the endotoxin-mediated activation of the cellularly based coagulation system of the American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), was considerably purified by a modification of the method employed to purify the corresponding enzyme from the Japanese horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus) (Nakamura, et al., 1982). This enzyme was inhibited by DFP, benzamidine, p-aminobenzamidine, antithrombin III, soybean trypsin inhibitor, and antipain, suggesting that it is a trypsin-type serine protease. The enzyme demonstrated amidolytic activity to Ac-Ile-Glu-Gly-Arg-pNA (S-2423) and related synthetic substrates (S-2222, S-2422, S-2337, and Boc-Leu-Gly-Arg-pNA) but not to other substrates (S-2160, S-2238, S-2251, S-2444, S-2266, and S-2302), indicating specificity similar to mammalian blood coagulation Factor Xa. These properties of the Limulus enzyme were identical with those of the corresponding Tachypleus enzyme. The structure and function of the enzymes in these two species probably have been highly conserved during the past few hundred million years of their evolution.