Tissue Plasminogen Activator and Glaucoma

Ⅰ.Introduction Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) is a new clot-specific fibrinolytic agent, developed through gene cloning. It is a 70,000 dalton serine protease with 527 amino acids and 3 saccharic chains. The tPA- fibrin complex specifically activates plasminogen into plasmin, which in turn degrades fibrin into solube split products. Because of its selectivity for fibrin-bound plasminogen, tPA promotes local lysis, instead of the systemic fibrinolytic state promoted by streptokinase and urokinase.