TAFI is a plasma zymogen that, in response to thrombin, and especially thrombin in complex
with thrombomodulin, is converted to a carboxypeptidase B-like enzyme that attenuates
fibrinolysis. Thus, it provides an explicit molecular connection between the coagulation and
fibrinolytic cascades, such that activity in the former suppresses activity in the latter. Studies
in vitro have shown that both soluble and endothelial cell thrombomodulin stimulate TAFI
activation, with a consequent suppression of clot lysis. 46 In plasma, potentiation of thrombin …