tissue plasminogen activator

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

tissue plasminogen activator

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.

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

In New York, Poor was going a step further with a drug called tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, which doesn’t prevent clots — it breaks them up.

From Los Angeles Times

Until recently the only treatment available for ischemic stroke was tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, a protein that can dissolve blood clots if injected up to four and a half hours after stroke onset.

From Scientific American

One treatment is the clot buster tPA — a tissue plasminogen activator — which requires an IV and must be administered within 4½ hours of the stroke occurring.

From Washington Post

The clot-dissolving drug--tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA--is currently the best treatment for blockages of blood vessels to the brain.

From Washington Post