AssayPro—Mouse Plasminogen ELI

Introduction
Plasminogen is a single chain glycoprotein zymogen that is synthesized in the liver and circulated in plasma with a molecular weight of 90 kDa. The N-terminal portion of the molecule is made up of five kringle domains that bind to fibrin. The native molecule has an amino-terminal glutamic acid, known as glu-plasminogen, but this can undergo proteolytic cleavage by plasmin to lys-plasminogen (1). The inactive proenzyme plasminogen is converted to the active enzyme plasmin that ultimately digests fibrin. Tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) or urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) catalyzes the activation of plasminogen, while plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAIs) inhibits the activation (2). The plasminogen system plays a role in macrophage recruitment, arterial stenosis, atherosclerosis, aneurysm formation, skin and corneal wound healing, glomerulonephritis, and neovascularization (3).

Principle of the Assay
The AssayMax Mouse Plasminogen ELISA kit is designed for detection of mouse plasminogen in urine and cell culture supernatants. This assay employs a quantitative sandwich enzyme immunoassay technique that measures plasminogen in less than 4 hours. A polyclonal antibody specific for plasminogen has been pre-coated onto a 96-well microplate with removable strips. Plasminogen in standards and samples is sandwiched by the immobilized antibody and the biotinylated polyclonal antibody specific for plasminogen, which is recognized by a streptavidin-peroxidase conjugate. All unbound material is then washed away and a peroxidase enzyme substrate is added. The color development is stopped and the intensity of the color is measured.