tissue plasminogen activator

American  

noun

Biochemistry.

1. an anticlotting enzyme, naturally occurring in small amounts in the blood.

2. Pharmacology. the same enzyme, produced in large amounts by genetic engineering techniques for use in dissolving blood clots. TPA

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tissue plasminogen activator Scientific  

1. An enzyme that dissolves blood clots. It can be produced naturally by cells in the walls of blood vessels, or prepared through the use of genetic engineering. Tissue plasminogen activator is used in the coronary arteries during heart attacks and in the cranial arteries in certain types of strokes.

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Example Sentences

And scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have begun enrolment for a clinical trial to evaluate an even more powerful clot-busting medication called tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA.

From Nature • May 7, 2020

The patient was still within the three-hour window from his first symptom, and the ER staff put him on the clot-busting treatment known as tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA.

From US News • Jul. 8, 2015

He had to decide whether or not to give her the tissue plasminogen activator or tPA shot, which would break up the clot from her ischemic stroke and restore blood flow to her brain.

From Washington Times • May 11, 2015

To develop this approach, it will be necessary to develop small molecule inhibitors of pericyte death that could be administered, perhaps with tissue plasminogen activator, soon after a stroke has occurred.

From Nature • Apr. 4, 2014

Then researchers determined that a drug called tissue plasminogen activator, or TPA, which has been used for years to treat heart attacks, can also alter the course of a stroke.

From Time Magazine Archive