Human fibrinogen: anticipating a 3‐dimensional structure

The principal component of blood dole ie a protein meshwork called fibrin. The precursor protein, fibrinogen, occurs in a soluble form in the blood plasma where it is activated by thrombin when and if the need arises. More than a century after first being purified, fibrinogen has yet to have its detailed 3‐dunensional structure revealed. The situ‐ation is changing rapidly, however, and crystal‐ lographic studies in progress in several laboratories on a variety of fragments and complexes may soon reveal not only its structure but also the subtleties of how this large glycoprotein is transformed into a fibrin clot.—Doolittle, R. F., Everse, S. J., Spraggon, G. Human fibrinogen: anticipating a 3‐dimensional structure. FASEB J. 10, 1464‐1470 (1996)