Feller, T. orcid.org/0000-0002-9137-5881, McPherson, H.R., Connell, S.D. orcid.org/0000-0003-2500-5724 et al. (1 more author) (2024) Fibrinogen αC-region acts as a functional safety latch: Implications for a fibrin biomechanical behaviour model. Acta Biomaterialia, 189. pp. 179-191. ISSN 1742-7061
Abstract
Fibrin has unique biomechanical properties which are essential for its role as a scaffold for blood clots. Fibrin is highly extensible and demonstrates significant strain stiffening behaviour, which is essential for stress-distribution in the network. Yet the exact structures of fibrin at the sub-fibre level that contribute to its unique biomechanical characteristic are unknown. Here we show how truncations of the fibrinogen αC-region impact the biomechanical properties of fibrin fibres. Surprisingly, absence of the complete αC-region did not influence the low strain modulus of fibrin fibres but led to premature fibre rupture and decreased extensibility. Intermediate effects were observed with partial deletion of the αC-region, reflected by intermediate rupture stress and toughness. However, overall strain-stiffening behaviour remained even in absence of the αC-region, indicating that strain stiffening is not due to stress being transferred from the αC-region to the protofibril backbone. Upon stress-relaxation, decay constants and their relative contribution to the total relaxation remained similar at all strains, showing that a distinct relaxation process is present until fibre rupture. However, relative contribution of fast relaxation was maximal only in crosslinked fibres if the flexible αC-connector was present. These data show that the αC-region is not the main load-bearing structure within fibrin fibres and point to a critical role for the protofibril backbone instead. We present a revised structural model based on protofibril branching that fully explains the unique biomechanical behaviour of fibrin fibres, while the αC-region primarily acts as a safety latch at the highest of strains.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Fibrinogen; Biomechanical model; Blood clotting; Polymer biology |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine (LICAMM) > Discovery & Translational Science Dept (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Physics and Astronomy (Leeds) > Molecular & Nanoscale Physics |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number British Heart Foundation PG/16/60/32292 British Heart Foundation RG/18/11/34036 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 28 Nov 2024 11:27 |
Last Modified: | 28 Nov 2024 11:27 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.actbio.2024.10.005 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:220195 |