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Published on: February 14, 2017
Energetics of thrombin-fibrinogen interaction
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110.
Biochemistry
|November 24, 1992
Summary
This study reveals how thrombin interacts with fibrinogen, a key step in blood clotting. Findings show fibrinogen acts as a sticky substrate, with binding influenced by factors like viscosity.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Biophysics
- Hematology
Background:
- Thrombin-fibrinogen interaction is central to hemostasis and thrombosis.
- Understanding the kinetics of this interaction is crucial for developing anticoagulants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the kinetic mechanism of human alpha-thrombin and fibrinogen interaction.
- To investigate the influence of viscosity and temperature on this binding.
Main Methods:
- Steady-state kinetic measurements of synthetic substrate hydrolysis.
- Utilized sucrose as a viscogenic agent and fibrinogen as a competitive inhibitor.
- Analyzed data using van't Hoff analysis to determine thermodynamic parameters.
Main Results:
- Fibrinogen acts as a sticky substrate for thrombin, with acylation comparable to dissociation at 20-37°C.
- Deacylation is significantly faster than acylation within this temperature range.
- Identified a chemical compensation effect in the binding of fibrinogen and synthetic substrates to thrombin.
Conclusions:
- Sucrose alters the FKm of thrombin-fibrinogen interaction without changing intrinsic properties.
- The binding exhibits a significant negative enthalpy and entropy change.
- A linear relationship exists between delta H and delta G for thrombin-ligand binding, indicating a compensation effect.
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