What is happening when blood clots, at a cellular level? Does blood expand as it clots?
In: Biology
When your blood vessel walls are injured, they release multiple signalling chemicals. These activate the enzyme prothrombin, converting it into thrombin.
The thrombin enzyme now converts the blood-soluble fibrinogen in your blood into fibrin fibres. At the same time, it signals platelets in your blood to move towards the injury site.
The platelets get caught between the rapidly forming fibrin fibres, forming a physical plug that prevents more blood from being lost. The fibrin fibres are then converted by other chemicals into a cross-linked fibrin mesh, which is extremely durable.
This final fibrin mesh (and some platelets and red blood cells) is what we see as a blood clot. As for whether blood expands when clotting, I would say that there is no significant change.
Latest Answers