title: Protofibrils within fibrin fibres are packed together in a regular array.
abstract: The inner structure of fibrin fibres grown from fibrinogen solution activated by human alpha-thrombin was investigated by means of an Energy Dispersive X-ray Diffraction technique. The experiments show evidence for the well-characterized 22.5 nm repeat distance, which indicates the high order of protofibril arrangement in the longitudinal direction of fibres. The diffraction pattern also manifested a further pronounced peak at 18.1 nm (and its second order reflection at 18.1/ radical 2) demonstrating the existence in fibrin of a high degree of lateral order. The reported results directly confirm, on unperturbed wet samples, that protofibrils closely associate giving rise to a crystalline axial and equatorial packing according to the conclusions of the multibundle model.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Biochemical Sciences, University of Rome La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caracciolo
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Spirito
authors.forename: Agostina Congiu
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pozzi
authors.forename: Gino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Amiconi
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Pascalis
authors.forename: Ruggero
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Caminiti
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Arcovito
mesh_terms: D005337:Fibrin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013917:Thrombin / Q000737:chemistry; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D005337:Fibrin; D005340:Fibrinogen; D013917:Thrombin