Fibrinogen
adsorption plays a key role in important biological
processes, such as blood coagulation and foreign body reaction, which
determine the biocompatibility of a material. Fibrinogen conformation
on a surface is one of the main factors triggering these processes.
Understanding the conformational dynamics of fibrinogen molecules
adsorbed on solid surfaces is, therefore, of great interest in biomedicine
and may contribute to the development of new biomaterials. In this
work, unfolding of fibrinogen molecules adsorbed on a model surface
(highly oriented pyrolytic graphite modified with an oligoglycine-hydrocarbon
graphite modifier) is directly visualized using time-lapse atomic
force microscopy. A gradual transformation of native-like fibrinogen
molecules into fibrillar structures is observed at a timescale of
several minutes. This transformation is accompanied by a decrease
in molecular height from 4–5 to 1–2 nm. Independent
unfolding of different fibrinogen domains is demonstrated. The obtained
results provide a new, direct insight into the unfolding of individual
fibrinogen molecules on a surface and give new opportunities for the
development of graphite-based biosensors and biomaterials.