Effect of γ′ on the molecular structure of fibrin fibers in plasma. Fibrinogen-deficient plasma was diluted 1/10 and supplemented with 0.3 mg/mL purified γA/γA (white bars), γA/γ′ (black bars), γA/γA:γA/γ′ 60%:40% (gray bars), and γA/γA:γA/γ′ 91%:9% (square patterned bars) fibrinogen, 10 mM CaCl2, and thrombin concentration of 0.1 U/mL. (A) Fibrin fiber radius. (B) Number of protofibrils within fibrin fibers. (C) Protein density of fibrin fibers. (D) Distance between protofibrils inside the fibrin fibers. The results represent the mean values ± SD; n = 3. Statistical significance, using a 1-way ANOVA, is denoted with *P < .05, **P < .01, ***P < .005, and ****P < .001 for comparison between γA/γA and the other fibrinogen systems. The quantitative data are presented in supplemental Table 2.
