clotting prevents dangerous loss of blood. Blood clots, or “thrombi,” can also block blood vessels, however, with potentially fatal consequences. Normally, our blood maintains a delicate balance between its tendency to form clots and its tendency to break them down. In particular, the body does this by continually adjusting the activity of a protein in the blood called plasminogen, which promotes the breakup of blood clots, or “thrombolysis.”Stay informed with live updates on the current COVID-19 outbreak and visit our coronavirus hub for more advice on prevention and treatment.The body performs this balancing act by changing the levels of two other proteins circulating in the bloodstream, known as tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) and.