SummaryA new congenital dysfibrinogen, Fibrinogen Bastia, was discovered in a 20-year-old woman with no clinical symptoms. The plasma thrombin-clotting time was severely prolonged. The functional plasma fibrinogen concentration was low (0.2 mg/ml), whereas the immunological concentration was normal (2.9 mg/ml). Purified fibrinogen Bastia displayed a markedly prolonged thrombin-clotting time related to a delayed thrombin-induced fibrin polymerization. Both the thrombin-clotting time and the fibrin polymerization were partially corrected by the addition of calcium ions. The anomaly of fibrinogen Bastia was found to be located in the γ-chain since by SDS-PAGE performed according to the method of Laemmli two γ-chains were detected, one normal and one with an apparently lower molecular weight. Furthermore, analysis of plasmin degradation products demonstrated that calcium ions only partially protect fibrinogen Bastia γ-chain against plasmin digestion, suggesting that the anomaly is located in the C-terminal part of the γ-chain. Sequence analysis of PCR-amplified genomic DNA fragments of the propositus demonstrated a single base substitution (G → T) in the exon VIII of the γ chain gene, resulting in the amino acid substitution 318 Asp (GAC) → Tyr (TAC). The PCR clones were recloned and 50% of them contained the mutation, indicating that the patient was heterozygous. These data indicate that residue Asp 318 is important for normal fibrin polymerization and the protective effect of calcium ions against plasmin degradation of the C-terminal part of the γ-chain.
