“…[31][32][33] However, the capacity to dissolve deposited fibrin in a timely manner is equally essential to maintaining health as the capacity to convert fibrinogen to fibrin. This is well illustrated by the progressive inflammation-associated, fibrindependent multiorgan pathology and impaired tissue regenerative capacity that is observed in humans and mice deficient in the key fibrinolytic protease zymogen plasminogen 27,29,30,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] and by studies in humans and animals showing that extravascular fibrin deposition exacerbates the morbidity of a wide range of chronic human diseases, including tissue fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis, in large part through its ability to cause persistent inflammation. [43][44][45][46][47][48][49] Previous studies have suggested important roles of uPAR in cell adhesion, cell migration, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and cell survival (Smith and Marshall 2 ; Blasi and Carmeliet 3 ; supplemental .…”