Figure 8
From: Fibrinogen decreases cardiomyocyte contractility through an ICAM-1-dependent mechanism
Fibrinogen gamma chain and D-dimer decrease contractility. (a) Schematic diagram of D-dimer with two D subunits linked in part via interaction of the gamma chains. For simplicity, we have not shown the areas on the D chain itself which participate in dimerization. (b) Expanded diagram of the gamma subunit showing the crosslinking (XL) site of the C-terminal regions which results in amine donor lysine 406 of one gamma chain and a glutamine acceptor at residue 398 or 399. The intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) binding site is shown as residue 117–133, far removed from the XL site. (c) Cardiomyocytes were incubated with a peptide with the sequence 117–133, D-dimer, or scrambled peptide. D-dimer and the gamma (117–133) peptide resulted in significant decreases in fractional shortening (FS), whereas scrambled peptide had no significant effect. *,†p < 0.05 versus control.