Structural highlights
FunctionFIBA_BOVIN Fibrinogen has a double function: yielding monomers that polymerize into fibrin and acting as a cofactor in platelet aggregation. Evolutionary Conservation Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf. Publication Abstract from PubMedHere we report the crystal structure at approximately 4-A resolution of a selectively proteolyzed bovine fibrinogen. This key component in hemostasis is an elongated 340-kDa glycoprotein in the plasma that upon activation by thrombin self-assembles to form the fibrin clot. The crystals are unusual because they are made up of end-to-end bonded molecules that form flexible filaments. We have visualized the entire coiled-coil region of the molecule, which has a planar sigmoidal shape. The primary polymerization receptor pockets at the ends of the molecule face the same way throughout the end-to-end bonded filaments, and based on this conformation, we have developed an improved model of the two-stranded protofibril that is the basic building block in fibrin. Near the middle of the coiled-coil region, the plasmin-sensitive segment is a hinge about which the molecule adopts different conformations. This segment also includes the boundary between the three- and four-stranded portions of the coiled coil, indicating the location on the backbone that anchors the extended flexible Aalpha arm. We suggest that a flexible branch point in the molecule may help accommodate variability in the structure of the fibrin clot. The crystal structure of modified bovine fibrinogen.,Brown JH, Volkmann N, Jun G, Henschen-Edman AH, Cohen C Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Jan 4;97(1):85-90. PMID:10618375[1] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. See AlsoReferences | ||||||||||||||||||
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