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The Structure And Biological Features Of Fibrinogen And Fibrin, Michael W. Mosesson, Kevin R. Siebenlist, David A. Meh

Biomedical Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Fibrinogen and fibrin play important, overlapping roles in blood clotting, fibrinolysis, cellular and matrix interactions, inflammation, wound healing, and neoplasia. These events are regulated to a large extent by fibrin formation itself and by complementary interactions between specific binding sites on fibrin(ogen) and extrinsic molecules including proenzymes, clotting factors, enzyme inhibitors, and cell receptors. Fibrinogen is comprised of two sets of three polypeptide chains termed Aα, Bβ, and γ, that are joined by disulfide bridging within the N-terminal E domain. The molecules are elongated 45-nm structures consisting of two outer D domains, each connected to a central E domain by …