Summary
An indirect spectrophotometric assay for extrinsic plasminogen activator has been
devised, which is based on the parabolic assay of Drapier et al. (5). The system contains
activator, plasminogen, the synthetic plasmin substrate H-D-Val-Leu-Lys-pNA (S-2251,
Kabi) and a mixture of soluble fibrinogen fragments prepared by treatment of fibrinogen
with cyanogen bromide. The addition of these fibrinogen fragments considerably enhances
the sensitivity and specificity of the method owing to specific stimulation of the
plasminogen activation by extrinsic plasminogen activator.
The assay conditions were optimized and the application for extrinsic plasminogen
activator measurements in plasma euglobulin fractions is demonstrated.
Keywords
Plasminogen activator assay - Sensitive - Spectrophotometric fibrin fragment - Synthetic
substrate
