The aEC domain of human fibrinogen-420 is a stable and early plasmin cleavage product

Human fibrinogen-420, (aEbg)2, was isolated from plasma and evaluated for its ability to form clots and for its susceptibility to proteolysis. Clotting parameters, including cross-linking of subunit chains, of this subclass and of the more abundant fibrinogen-340 (abg)2, were found to be similar, suggesting little impact of the unique aEC domains of fibrinogen-420 on coagulation. Sodium dodecyl sulfate– polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDSPAGE) analysis of plasmic digestion patterns revealed production from fibrinogen-420 of the conventional fibrinogen degradation products, X, Y, D, and E, to be comparable to that from fibrinogen-340 in all respects except the presence of at least 2 additional cleavage products that were shown by Western blot analysis to contain the aEC domain. One was a stable fragment (aECX) comigrating with a 34-kd yeast recombinant aEC domain, and the other was an apparent precursor. Their release occurred early, before that of fragments D and E. Two bands of the same mobility and antibody reactivity were found in Western blots of plasma collected from patients with myocardial infarction shortly after the initiation of thrombolytic therapy. (Blood. 2000;95: 2297-2303)