title: Human fibrinogen heterogeneity: the COOH-terminal residues of defective A alpha chains of fibrinogen II.
abstract: Fibrinogen fraction I (340 kDa) and fraction II (305 kDa) were isolated by glycine precipitation. The subunit chains of the two fractions were separated, after reduction, by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. The amino acid compositions of the B beta and tau chains of fibrinogen II were identical with those of fibrinogen I. In contrast, the A alpha chains of fibrinogen II were composed of two populations, one comprising homogeneous, intact A alpha chains and the other consisting of heterogeneous, deficient A alpha chains (A alpha' chains) of lengths varying according to the sizes of their COOH-terminal defects. The molar ratio of the A alpha to the A alpha' chains in fibrinogen II was 1.16:1. The amino acid composition and sequence analyses of the TPCK-trypsin peptides derived from the A alpha' chains revealed that the COOH-terminal residues of the A alpha' chains were mainly Asn-269, Gly-297 and Pro-309. These results indicate that the fibrinogen II molecule is asymmetrical and can be represented by the formula (A alpha) (A alpha')(B beta)2(tau)2 and that fibrinogen II cannot be a plasmin degradation product of fibrinogen I.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakashima
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyata
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwanaga
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003488:Cyanogen Bromide; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014108:Tosylphenylalanyl Chloromethyl Ketone; D014357:Trypsin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014108:Tosylphenylalanyl Chloromethyl Ketone; D005340:Fibrinogen; D010450:Endopeptidases; D014357:Trypsin; D003488:Cyanogen Bromide