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Updated: Jul 30, 2026

Helical Organization of Blood Coagulation Factor VIII on Lipid Nanotubes
Published on: June 3, 2014
The formation of beta fibrin requires a functional a site
K A Hogan1, B Bolliger, N Okumura
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Brinkhaus-Bullitt 603, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7525, USA.
Abstract:
We used recombinant fibrinogens in which the a site is disrupted to examine beta-fibrin formation in the absence of a functional a site. Our variants have only b sites available, and they showed no evidence of fibrin polymer formation after cleavage of FpB with venzyme. We conclude that B-b interactions are not strong enough to induce clot formation. Our studies do not rule out the involvement of b in the formation of beta-fibrin, yet they do provide evidence that a is likely to be essential in the formation of beta-fibrin.
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