Chapter 12 - Current status and future directions in producing microbial fibrinolytic enzymes for biomedical applications

Abstract

Fibrin is the key protein produced during wound healing and the result of the cascade of blood coagulation. Imperfect accumulation of fibrin in the blood vessels, however, leads to thrombolytic diseases such as acute myocardial infarction and stroke. For this, the key therapeutic options are to minimize and dissolve the blood clot (thrombus) with either anticoagulants (warfarin and heparin), or antiplatelets (dipyridamole and aspirin), clot surgery, or fibrinolytic enzyme therapy. Thrombolytic therapy with fibrinolytic enzymes has an advantage over anticoagulants and antiplatelets, as the enzymes can work directly on the existing clot. There are currently two forms of thrombolytic enzymes in use: plasminogen activators and plasmin-like enzymes. The synthesis of these enzymes has thus become an important pharmaceutical industry and microorganisms are currently being used as a source of these fibrinolytic enzymes. Therefore, in this chapter we concentrate on the current status and future directions of microbial fibrinolytic enzymes and their biomedical applications.