Cleaved by the protease thrombin to yield monomers which, together with fibrinogen alpha (FGA) and fibrinogen gamma (FGG), polymerize to form an insoluble fibrin matrix. Fibrin has a major function in hemostasis as one of the primary components of blood clots. Heterohexamer; disulfide linked. Contains 2 sets of 3 non-identical chains (alpha, beta and gamma). The 2 heterotrimers are in head to head conformation with the N-termini in a small central domain. A long coiled coil structure formed by 3 polypeptide chains connects the central nodule to the C-terminal domains (distal nodules). The long C-terminal ends of the alpha chains fold back, contributing a fourth strand to the coiled coil structure. Conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin is triggered by thrombin, which cleaves fibrinopeptides A and B from alpha and beta chains, and thus exposes the N-terminal polymerization sites responsible for the formation of the soft clot. The soft clot is converted into the hard clot by factor XIIIA which catalyzes the epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl)lysine cross-linking between gamma chains (stronger) and between alpha chains (weaker) of different monomers.