Kinetics of factor VIII-von Willebrand factor association

The binding of factor VIII to von Willebrand factor (vWF) is essential for the protection of factor VIII against proteolytic degradation in plasma. We have characterized the binding kinetics of human factor VIII with vWF using a centrifugation binding assay. Purified or plasma vWF was immobilized with a monoclonal antibody (MoAb RU1) covalently linked to Sepharose (Pharmacia LKB Biotechnology, Uppsala, Sweden). Factor VIII was incubated with vWF-RU1-Sepharose and unbound factor VIII was separated from bound factor VIII by centrifugation. The amount of bound factor VIII was determined from the decrease of factor VIII activity in the supernatant. Factor VIII binding to vWF-RU1-Sepharose conformed to the Langmuir model for independent binding sites with a Kd of 0.46 +/- 0.12 nmol/L, and a stoichiometry of 1.3 factor VIII molecules per vWF monomer at saturation, suggesting that each vWF subunit contains a binding site for factor VIII. Competition experiments were performed with a recombinant vWF (deltaA2-rvWF), lacking residues 730 to 910 which contain the epitope for MoAB RU1. DeltaA2-rvWF effectively displaced previously bound factor VIII, confirming that factor VIII binding to vWF-RU1-Sepharose was reversible. To determine the association rate constant (k(on)) and the dissociation rate constant (k(off)), factor VIII was incubated with vWF-RU1-Sepharose for various time intervals. The observed association kinetics conformed to a simple bimolecular association reaction with k(on) = 5.9 +/- 1.9 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1) and k(off) = 1.6 +/- 1.2 x 10(-3) s(-1) (mean +/- SD). Similar values were obtained from the dissociation kinetics measured after dilution of preformed factor VIII-vWF-RU1-Sepharose complexes. Identical rate constants were obtained for factor VIII binding to vWF from normal pooled plasma and to vWF from plasma of patients with hemophilia A. The kinetic parameters in this report allow estimation of the time needed for complex formation in vivo in healthy individuals and in patients with hemophilia A, in which monoclonally purified or recombinant factor VIII associates with endogenous vWF. Using the plasma concentration of vWF (50 nmol/L in monomers) and the obtained values for K(on) and K(off), the time needed to bind 50% of factor VIII is approximately 2 seconds.