Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator: a brief review.

Thrombolytic therapy has received renewed attention with the demonstration that early treatment of acute myocardial infarction with plasminogen activators can reduce mortality. Tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) is a protein with attributes that may allow for greater efficacy and safety. Recombinant DNA technology has enabled the production of sufficient t-PA, called rt-PA (Activase), for substantial clinical evaluation. The results suggest that Activase is a significant advance in thrombolytic therapy.