Clinical Use of Streptokinase

Thrombolytic properties of an inactive proenzyme form of human urokinase secreted from human kidney cells.

“…2) and the degradation of the fibrinogen in the plasma (Fig. 3) are caused by urokinase nonspecifically (5,25).…”

“…Urokinase, an isolate from human urine that consists of two polypeptide chains linked by one disulfide bond (molecular weight 50,000), has been used clinically in thrombolytic therapy. Thrombolysis by urokinase is associated with systemic plasminogen activation, the degradation of fibrinogen and the coagulation proteins in circulating blood (5,25). In contrast, the t-PA produced by a human melanoma cell line has been shown to be a more specific and effective thrombolytic agent than urokinase because of its high affinity for fibrin and its thrombus-localized stimulation of plasminogen activator activity without the activation of systemic plasminogen or the degradation of plasma proteins (9,16,20).…”