On the Plasmin Digestion of Factor XIII

The plasmin digestion of factor XIII in the plasma with congenital afibrinogenemia has been reported by Suzuki et al. in 1967. The present investigation using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and crossimmunoelectrophoresis with anti-factor XIII (A & S) serum demonstrates that the process of plasmin digestion of factor XIII can be divided into three steps ; the subunit A of factor XIII such as placental or platelet factor XIII is ready to get plasmin digestion following the decrease of amount and activity of subunit A, and the subunit S in the A1 S complex like plasma factor XIII is more readily affectable on the plasmin digestion than the subunit A of the complex, and the A2 S complex coexisting with fibrinogen or plasma protein is fairly stable on exposure to plasmin.