Inhibitor of Fibrinolysis from Mesothelium

Abstract

THE mechanism of blood coagulation, in which a network of the insoluble protein fibrin forms from its soluble precursor fibrinogen, has been studied for more than a century. In contrast, much less is known about the complementary process of fibrinolysis, whereby fibrin is broken down into soluble products both in vivo and, in suitable experimental conditions, in vitro. Fibrin is an important structural component of a thrombus, so there is every reason to suppose that fibrinolysis forms part of the control mechanism which governs the development and destruction of thrombi in the body. Thrombosis is now responsible for more deaths in advanced industrial countries than any other pathological process. Further investigation of the mechanism of fibrinolysis may therefore be important not only because of the intrinsic interest of the phenomenon but also because of its bearing on human disease.