PMID: 9184396May 1, 1997Paper

Fibrinogen heterogeneity in homozygous plasminogen deficiency type I: further evidence that plasmin is not involved in formation of LMW- and LMW'-fibrinogen

Thrombosis and Haemostasis
C E DempfleD L Heene

Abstract

Human plasma fibrinogen is heterogeneous in SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and other methods for separation of proteins by molecular size. A high molecular weight fraction (HMW-fibrinogen, 340 kD) contributes approximately 50% of total fibrinogen antigen. Low molecular weight fibrinogen (LMW-fibrinogen, 300 kD) adds another 40%. The residual amount is LMW'-fibrinogen with a molecular weight of 280 kD, and a small amount of very high molecular weight fibrinogen (Fib420), the product of alternative splicing of the A alpha-chain genetic information, resulting in an extended A alpha-chain C-terminus. Fibrinogen was detected by specific immunostaining of nonreduced SDS-PAGE gel immunoblots with antibodies against fibrinopeptide A. Using densitometric scans of the immunoblots we found a ratio of HMW-, LMW- and LMW'-fibrinogen in a patient with homozygous plasminogen deficiency that was similar to the ratio found in immunoblots of plasma from healthy blood donors. Treatment with plasminogen concentrate resulted in a slight decrease of the proportion of HMW-fibrinogen, followed by an increase to 78%. The LMW'-fibrinogen band gained intensity initially, increasing to 11.9% of fibrinogen antigen 6 h after starting plasminogen inf...Continue Reading

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