Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Experimental and Imaging Techniques for Examining Fibrin Clot Structures in Normal and Diseased States
Published on: April 1, 2015
Importance of the interaction between plasminogen and fibrin for plasminogen activation by tissue-type plasminogen
Abstract:
The potentiating effect of fibrin monomer on plasminogen activation by tissue-type plasminogen activator is much more important with lys-plasminogen than with mini-plasminogen (which lacks the high affinity lysine-binding site important for binding to fibrin). Furthermore, this potentiating effect is totally abolished when lys-plasminogen is eluted from fibrin by the addition of 1 mM epsilon-amino caproic acid. Binding does however not seem to be the only condition required since it was found that fragment D is a much stronger potentiator of the activation of plasminogen by tissue-type plasminogen activator than fragment E although plasminogen binds to both fragment D and fragment E. Furthermore, fragment E has the same effect on the activation of lys-and mini-plasminogen by tissue-type plasminogen activator. Therefore, it is suggested that binding of plasminogen to fibrin involves a conformational change in the plasminogen molecule, facilitating its activation by tissue-type plasminogen activator.
Related Concept Videos
Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions
Some...
Anticoagulant Drugs: Low-Molecular-Weight Heparins
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...
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...
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

