Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Brown AE
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2846107 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Science (New York, N.Y.) 20090801 5941
Blood clots and thrombi consist primarily of a mesh of branched fibers made of the protein fibrin. We propose a molecular basis for the marked extensibility and negative compressibility of fibrin gels based on the structural and mechanical properties of clots at the network, fiber, and molecular levels. The force required to stretch a clot initially rises linearly and is accompanied by a dramatic decrease in clot volume and a peak in compressibility. These macroscopic transitions are accompanied ...[more]