Activation of factor VIII (FVIII) by thrombin plays a fundamental role in the amplification of the coagulation cascade and takes place through specific proteolytic cleavages at Arg(372), Arg(740) and Arg(1689). Full FVIII activation requires cleavage at Arg(372), a process involving the alpha-thrombin exosite-II; referred to as heparin-binding site (HBS). The present study was aimed at investigating the effect of glycoprotein Ibalpha (GpIbalpha; 1-282 fragment) binding to thrombin HBS on FVIII activation. Similar experiments were also performed using a synthetic peptide modelled on the 268-282 sequence of GpIbalpha, and sulphated successfully at all tyrosine residues present along its sequence, at positions 276, 278 and 279. Both GpIbalpha 1-282 and the sulphated GpIb 268-282 peptides induced a progressive decrease (up to 70%) in activated FVIII generation, assessed by coagulation and FXa-generation assays. Furthermore, SDS/PAGE and Western-blot experiments showed that the specific appearance of the 44 kDa A2 domain on cleavage of the FVIII Arg(372)-Ser(373) peptide bond was delayed significantly in the presence of either GpIbalpha 1-282 or GpIb 268-282 peptide. Moreover, the effect of the latter on thrombin-mediated hydrolysis of a peptide having the sequence 341-376 of FVIII was investigated using reverse-phase HPLC. The k (cat)/ K (m) values of the FVIII 341-376 peptide hydrolysis by thrombin decreased linearly as a function of the GpIbalpha 268-282 peptide concentration, according to a competitive inhibition effect. Taken together, these experiments suggest that the sulphated 268-282 region of GpIbalpha binds to thrombin HBS, and is responsible for the inhibition of the Arg(372)-Ser(373) bond cleavage and activation of FVIII.