In addition to their well-known roles in hemostasis, fibrinogen (Fg) and fibrin (Fn) have been
implicated in a number of other physiological and pathophysiological events. One of these
involves the fibroproliferative response after acute lung injury, which is the focus of the
current study. Mice with a total Fg deficiency (FG−/−) were generated by breeding
heterozygous (FG+/−) pairs, each of which contained an allele with a targeted deletion of its
Fg-γ-chain gene. The resulting FG−/− animals did not possess detectable plasma Fg. FG …

A critical role of the coagulation system in the development of atherosclerosis has been
frequently postulated based on a variety of indirect observations, including the expression of
procoagulants and fibrinolytic factors within atherosclerotic vessels, the presence of
substantial amounts of fibrin (ogen) and fibrin degradation products within intimal lesions,
the cellular infiltration and assimilation of mural thrombi into developing plaques, and the
identification of high plasma fibrinogen (Fib) levels as an independent risk factor for the …