blood clotting process

• blood clotting

  • prevents excess blood loss, entry of pathogens, provides barrier, or scab under which wound healing can occur
• process of thrombosis

  • damaged blood vessel releases a protein called thromboplastin
  • calcium ions from the plasma, along with thromboplastin, trigger the conversion of soluble prothrombin protein into the enzyme thrombin
  • thrombin catalyses the conversion of the soluble protein fibrinogen to the insoluble protein fibrin
  • fibrin fibres mesh and tangle together, trapping platelets and red blood cells
  • a blood clot is formed