Coagulation cascade activation

Two complement pathways can operate, the classical pathway and the alternative pathway. The classical pathway is analagous to the coagulation cascade, activation of the Cl component eventually leading to activation of the other components. The classical pathway can be initiated by a number of substances, the most important probably being the antibody molecule. The alternative pathway can be activated by other substances. It bypasses the Cl, C2 and C4 components. 

Factor V. High in sialic acid content. Factor V is a large asymmetric single-chain glycoprotein that becomes an active participant in the coagulation cascade when it is converted to its active form by a-thrombin. Approximately 25% of human Factor V is found in the whole blood associated with platelets. Factor V is an essential cofactor along with Factor Xa plus phosphohpid plus Ca " in the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin. 

FIGURE 18.40 The glutamyl carboxylase reaction is vitamin K-dependent. This enzyme activity is essential for the formation of 7-car-boxyglutamyl residues in several proteins of the blood-clotting cascade (Figure 15.5), accounting for the vitamin K dependence of coagulation. 

During activation of the coagulation cascade, coagulation factors form multimolecular (often trimolecular)... 

A proteolytic cascade occurs when one peptidase activates the next in a proteolytic pathway, and this in turn activates the next and so on. This is a mechanism to amplify the initial signal, because one peptidase molecule can activate many zymogen molecules. Examples of proteolytic cascades include blood coagulation, activation of digestive peptidases in the intestine, and apoptosis. 

Binding calcium ions (Ca2+) is a prerequisite for the activation of seven clotting factors in the coagulation cascade that are dependent on vitamin K. The term cascade indicates, that the factois involved depend from... 

Hemostasis is the process that stops bleeding in a blood vessel. Normal hemostasis involves a complex process of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Figure 44-1 shows the coagulation pathway and factors involved. The copulation cascade is so named because as each factor is activated it acts as a catalyst that enhances the next reaction, with the net result being a large collection of fibrin that forms a plug in the vessel. Fibrin is the insoluble protein that is essential to clot formation. 

Besides the changes in wettability, they found that the hemocompatibility was significantly affected by plasma treatment. Treatment of PDMS with both Ar and O2 induced a decrease in hemocompatibility, leading to shorter clotting times. The N2 and NH3 treatments had a significantly beneficial effect on the activation of the coagulation cascade. 

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