Diameter Dependence of Fibrinolysis.

<p><b>A</b> Over two hundred single fibers were imaged on the SEM. Fiber diameters were measured at the thinnest point. Data were collected from fibers polymerized at three distinct thrombin concentrations: 0.11 U/mL (84 samples), 1.1 U/mL (64 samples), and 11 U/mL (73 samples), (p < 0.02 for all cases). <b>B</b> Percentage of fibers that lysed or elongated during the first thirty minutes of exposure to 3.3 U/mL of plasmin. Fibrin fibers polymerized by higher concentrations of thrombin lysed more frequently than those polymerized by lower thrombin concentrations. <b>C–E</b> The data in the histograms were segregated according to the percentage of fibers that lysed or elongated. The percentage of fibers with thicknesses below the <i>d</i>₀ diameters (indicated by a white dotted line) parallels the percentage of fibers that lysed in the corresponding bar graphs. The threshold diameter (<i>d₀</i>) was 200 nm ± 30 nm.