Prothrombin Fragmentation During Coagulation of Whole Blood and Plasma

Abstract

During the coagulation two prothrombin fragments are formed differing in molecular size and electrophoretic mobility but containing a common piece of the prothrombin molecule. The concentration of the smaller fragment is much lower than that of the larger fragment, but it is increased when the coagulation is accelerated by addition of tissue extract. On incubation in the presence of the blood cells, part of the bigger fragment is converted to a new similar component with a higher electrophoretic mobility.

Key Words:

• Blood coagulation
• prothrombin