Regulation of fibrinogen synthesis by plasmin-derived fragments of fibrinogen and fibrin: an indirect feedback pathway.

The effect of plasmin-derived fibrinogen fragments on the biosynthesis of fibrinogen was investigated in cultured monolayers of rat hepatocytes. Incubating the cells with several concentrations of either fibrinogen or fibrin fragment D or E had no effect on the synthesis and secretion of fibrinogen by these cells. However, if the fragments were incubated with isolated peripheral blood leukocytes, they caused these cells to secrete a factor that when added to the hepatocytes caused an increase in fibrinogen synthesis 4- to 6-fold over controls. Moreover, the hepatocyte-stimulating factor also affected the production of several other proteins produced by the hepatocyte. These results demonstrate that both fragments D and E can stimulate hepatic fibrinogen synthesis via an indirect leukocyte-mediated pathway.