Interaction of fibrinogen with detergent.

Both cationic and anionic detergents were found to precipitate fibrinogen by forming fibrinogen-detergent complexes. These complexes were soluble in distilled water, but the aqueous solutions were very unstable and the complexes precipitated in the presence of salt. In the interaction of fibrinogen with the cationic detergent, stearyltrimethyl-ammonium chloride, approximately 160 molecules of detergent were found to bind to one molecule of fibrinogen. In distilled water, the fibrinogen-stearyltrimethylammonium complex (FG-STA(Cl)) remained soluble in the presence of thrombin [ED 3.4.21.5] although the same peptides were released as those released from fibrinogen. Precipitation of FG-STA(Cl) by salt was found to be closely related to adsorption of the anion of the salt by the complex. Futher addition of salt resulted in solubilization of the precipitate, and the solubilization was also due to further adsorption of the anion onto the precipitate.