LOCALIZATION OF A FIBRIN POLYMERIZATION SITE COMPLEMENTARY TO GLY-HIS-ARG SEQUENCE

Dansyl-labeled tetrapeptide Gly-His-Arg-Pro which mimics the central fibrin polymerization site was used to investigate its binding to a number of fibrinogen fragments containing different numbers of domains. The tetrapeptide was found to bind to fragments D(H)(95 kDa), D(L)(82 kDa) and D(Y)(63 kDa) but not to the TSD(28 kDa) fragment. The D(Y) fragment differs from the TSD by the presence of beta and betaC domains. Therefore these domains, which are formed by the C-terminal part of the beta chain, possess a polymerization site complementary to the Gly-His-Arg containing counterpart.