Thrombin binding to human brain and spinal cord

Thrombin, a serine protease that regulates hemostasis, has been shown to stimulate the formation of cGMP in murine neuroblastoma cells. The nervous system in vivo thus may be postulated to respond to this blood-borne factor after it breaches the blood-brain barrier, as in trauma. Human α-thrombin was radiolabeled with ¹²⁵I and shown to bind rapidly, reversibly, and with high affinity to human brain and spinal cord. These findings indicate the presence of specific thrombin-binding sites in nervous tissue and may have important clinical implications.