Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

A Microfluidic Flow Chamber Model for Platelet Transfusion and Hemostasis Measures Platelet Deposition and Fibrin Formation in Real-time
Published on: February 14, 2017
ON THE NATURE OF FORCES OPERATING IN BLOOD CLOTTING : II. THE CLOTTING OF FIBRINOGEN AS A TWO-STEP REACTION
1Hungarian Biological Research Institute, Tihany, Hungary.
Abstract:
It is found that clotting of fibrinogen by thrombin does not occur on the acid side of the isoelectric point of the fibrinogen. At such pH values, however, a primary reaction between thrombin and fibrinogen takes place, leading to the formation of profibrin, a compound of thrombin and fibrinogen. At pH values at which clotting is possible, fibrinogen is negatively, thrombin positively charged, whereas profibrin has a pattern of positive and negative charges. The primary reaction, the formation of profibrin by combination of thrombin and fibrinogen, is inhibited by urea but not by neutral salts. The combination of thrombin with fibrinogen most probably takes place by hydrogen bonds. The second reaction, the polymerisation of profibrin to fibrin, is inhibited by neutral salts in the same way as complex or autocomplex coacervates. It is caused therefore by electrostatic attraction between the positive and the negative charges of the profibrin.
Related Concept Videos
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Pathways of Hemostasis
The Extrinsic Pathway
The extrinsic pathway of coagulation is typically initiated by tissue damage that exposes blood to tissue factor (TF), a protein released by the damaged tissue cells outside the blood vessels—this interaction with TF triggers biochemical reactions involving specific clotting factors. The key player here is Factor VII, which forms a...
Clot Retraction and Fibrinolysis
Coagulation
During the coagulation phase, clotting factors, or procoagulants, play a vital role in initiating and progressing the coagulation cascade. This cascade is a series of reactions...
Coagulation
Introduction to Hemostasis
The three phases of hemostasis involve many clotting factors present in plasma and several substances released by platelets and injured tissue cells. It is a fast, localized, and...
Formation of the Platelet Plug
As the injured blood vessel contracts, endothelial cells undergo contraction, revealing collagen fibers in the basement membrane and underlying connective tissue. Furthermore, the plasma membrane of endothelial cells becomes adhesive, preparing the site for platelet adhesion. Platelets...

