Electrophoretic studies of human factor VIII-related antigen [proceedings].

I I the inherent lytic rate of cross-linked and non-cross-linked clots. To investigate this, a fibrin-plate techique was used in which small equal volumes of haemoglobin solution were spotted on to the plates instead ofthestreptokinase solution,and therateof diffusion of the haemoglobin into the plates was estimated. Yet again this was unaffected by crosslinking, and, since streptokinase has an appreciably smaller molecular weight than haemoglobin, this too can be assumed to diffuse equally rapidly in cross-linked or noncross-linked fibrin. These results show that Factor XIII-induced cross-linking of fibrin clots has no significant effect on the lysis time of whole clots formed from a fibrinogen preparation. They suggest that such cross-linking is not directly related to resistance of blood clots to fibrinolysis. Thus the significance of Factor XI11 to haemostasis is in need of reconsideration.