Mechanism of action and some properties of a tissue activator of plasminogen.

Improvements in preparations of tissue activator and plasminogen and termination of activation by epsilon aminocaproic acid have permitted the use of a quantitative caseinolytic assay for the measurement of the plasmin formed. The following data indicate that the activation of plasminogen by tissue activator is catalytic: a) Biphasic curve obtained when velocity was plotted against plasminogen concentration. b) First order kinetics.