Background of the antigen
Hemostasis following tissue injury involves the deployment of essential plasma procoagulants (prothrombin, and factors X, IX, V, and VIII), which are involved in a blood coagulation cascade that leads to the formation of insoluble fibrin clots and the promotion of platelet aggregation (1-3). Coagulation factor IX (plasma thromboplastic component, F9, F.IX, HEMB) is a vitamin K-dependent, single chain serine protease that is synthesized in the liver and circulates as an inactive precursor (3,4). Factor XIa mediated proteolytic cleavage of factor IX generates factor IXa, an active serine protease composed of a 145 amino acid light chain and a 236 amino acid catalytic heavy chain, linked through disulfide bonds (5). Genetic alterations at the Factor IX locus such as point mutations, insertions and deletions, can lead to hemophilia B, also known as Christmas disease (6).
