The coagulation cascade is an essential biological process whereby the blood plasma protein fibrinogen is irreversibly converted to fibrin by the action of the thrombin enzyme, essentially causing the blood to clot. Various snake venoms are shown to have a thrombin-like effect as well, though this process has yet to be imaged at the molecular level. The objective of this study is to obtain images of fibrinogen structure, followed by images of fibrinogen and thrombin together, and finally of fibrinogen in the presence of snake venom. This process allows us to observe both protein adsorption to a thin film surface as well as examine the polymerization of the fibrinogen molecule itself. The application of such findings is multi-purpose in that the data gathered on the hydrophobicity of the thin films can be applied to optimal thin film coatings of implanted medical devices, while the fibrinogen polymerization reaction can be utilized in finding new treatments for blood clotting, especially clotting as the result of a snake bite. To obtain images, clean mica discs were covered in thin silane films (N-(6-aminohexyl)aminopropyltrimethoxysilane or 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane) to aid in the adhesion of fibrinogen molecules. The mica discs were then exposed to the fibrinogen solution. These discs were them imaged on both the atomic force microscope (AFM) and the scanning electron microscope (SEM) to observe surface coverage and protein size and shape. This research presentation gives the images obtained to date.

Adsorption and characterization of fibrinogen using thin films

251st National Meeting (2016)

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