Biophysical Mechanisms Mediating Fibrin Fiber Lysis

Figure 2

Fibrin fiber structure and mechanical stretching. (a) Cartoon model of the fibrin molecule showing fibrinolytic binding and cleavage sites. Relative positions of plasmin cleavage sites, and tPA, plasmin(ogen), and α2AP binding sites are color coded. Mechanical stretching alters each site, as seen below. (b) A structural model for the fibrin fiber, consisting of protofibrils (c) linked together by unstructured αC regions. Knob-hole interactions are not shown and the β- and γ-nodules have been simplified to one structure in (b–f) for clarity. The protofibrils align to give a 23 nm banding pattern as seen in electron microscopy images, although the interactions mediating this alignment are unclear. The red dashes between adjacent molecules indicate the site of γ-γ FXIII cross-linking. (d–f) Cartoon models depicting extension of the fiber arising from stretching of the coiled coil region (d), γ-nodule (e), and the αC regions between protofibrils (f), respectively.