Normal and fibrinaemic patient plasma contain high-molecular weight crosslinked fibrin(ogen) derivatives with intact fibrinopeptide A.
Freshly drawn plasma samples from healthy subjects and from fibrinaemic patients were subjected to electrophoresis on SDS-agarose (unreduced material) or on SDS-PAG (1D and 2D, reduced material) and Westernblotted. The blots were immunovisualized using either polyclonal anti-fibrinogen or a monoclonal antibody (Y18) to fibrinopeptide A-containing molecules. The following results were obtained: 1. Normal plasma as well as plasma from patients with fibrinaemia contained FXIII-crosslinked HMW oligomers, stabilized through gamma gamma-dimerization as well as alpha-polymer formation and these oligomers contained molecules with intact A alpha-chain N-termini. 2. Cross-linked material amounted to less than 0.1% of the fibrinogen pool regardless of the sample studied, and apparently less in fibrinaemic patient plasma than in normal plasma. Thus, since the ratio of crosslinked fibrin(ogen) derivatives to that of fibrinogen was lower for fibrinaemic plasma than for normal plasma, it is suggested that the type of soluble fibrin which gives rise to a positive EGT in fibrinaemia patients is not crosslinked.
Grøn
B
B
Research Institute for Internal Medicine, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway.
Bennick
A
A
Nieuwenhuizen
W
W
Brosstad
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005337:Fibrin / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005344:Fibrinopeptide A / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008970:Molecular Weight; D012995:Solubility
D005344:Fibrinopeptide A; D005337:Fibrin; D005340:Fibrinogen