Fibrinolytic enzymes of Bacillus spp.: an overview.

Failed hemostasis leads to the formation of undesirable blood clots in the blood vessels leading
to the condition called thrombosis, which is a primary cause of deaths among cardiovascular
diseases world-wide. Conventional thrombolytic agents such as streptokinase, tissue
plasminogen activator, urokinase, has several limitation such as higher cost of production as
well as their side effects have forced the researchers to find alternative and safer fibrinolytic
enzymes. Various fibrinolytic enzymes have been purified and characterized from different
sources including fermented foods. Many such fermented foods are rich sources of fibrinolytic
enzyme producing Bacillus spp. which have the potential to become candidates for preventing
thrombosis related disorders. In this review, we have made an attempt to present the importance
of Bacillus spp. as a source of fibrinolytic enzymes. Details about production, specificity, and
diversity in N-terminal sequences and biotechnological approaches for its application has also
been described.