The Dunn Lab’s Newest Paper!!

I’m excited to announce that our lab’s newest paper, “Strain Tunes Proteolytic Degradation and Diffusive Transport in Fibrin Networks,” has been accepted by the ACS journal Biomacromolecules.  We’re quite pleased with this study, because we believe it highlights the biophysical mechanisms that govern fibrin degradation.  Here’s the LINK!! Look for the final version in the next journal issue.

Fibrin clots are proteinaceous gels that polymerize in the blood at sites of vascular injury.  They provide the structural scaffolding for cells to remodel and repair the tissue at wound sites, and therefore must be resistant to degradation.  However, improper or incomplete degradation of fibrin could lead to the formation of thrombi that block blood vessels, leading to myocardial infarction (heart attack) and other cardiovascular diseases.

In this study, we found that strain on fibrin clots due to platelet contraction, fluid shear, or mechanical stress causes up to a 10-fold reduction in the rate of fibrin degradation.  The most likely cause for this is the hindered diffusion of the fibrinolytic enzyme into the clot as strain is applied.  To this end, we also revealed that anisotropic diffusion of dextran molecules accompanies the application of strain, possibly due to fiber alignment.