Letter to the Editor Dear Sirs, Fibrinogen is synthesised in the liver from Aα, Bβ and γ chains. The protein is assembled from Aα-γ and Bβ-γ intermediates in the endoplasmic reticulum (1) and on acquiring an additional chain, Aα-Bβ-γ half-molecules dimerise and proceed to the Golgi for pruning and extension of N-linked oligosaccharides before secretion of the (Aα-Bβ-γ) 2 assembly into the circulation. The 340 kDa molecule has a linear D-E-D configuration with the central E domain connected to the peripheral D domains by a three-chain coiled coil. The D domains are formed from the independently folding C-terminal regions of the Bβ and γ chains (2). Disulphide bonding helps maintain the structural integrity of the molecule; each chain has its own internal S-S bridges, contributes to a pair of disulphide rings at either end of each coiled coil and is involved in S-S bonding between half molecules (3). Substitutions that affect the folding of chains can cause profound hypofibrinogenaemia if they perturb assembled dimers because they can affect 75 % of molecules in a heterozygous carrier. Substitution and posttranslational modification can also affect the functionality of fibrinogen. With biantennary oligosaccharide chains at