Complement function and disorders.
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The study involved three families with hane. This disorder differs from the simple condition by its preferential visceral localisation (digestive and, above all, the glottis), its hereditary nature and the existence of a biological abnormality affecting the serum complement system (absence of enzyme activity of C1 esterase inhibitor in the serum of sufferers). The cases reported illustrate the serious prognosis of this condition (four deaths by asphyxia in one family) in the absence of specific therapy. This disorder, although rare, represents a fundamental problem in general pathology by virtue of the enzymatic, immunological and genetic processes which it involves.
It has been proposed that autoimmune immune complex disease, of which SLE is the type example, is caused essentially by a failure to properly metabolise immune complexes and that this allows the establishment of feedback cycles which cause more immune complexes to be formed. The essential genetic predisposition to this disease is complement deficiency of the components of the early classical pathway and some degree of genetic complement deficiency, particularly of C4a, is found in more than half the patients. It seems likely that acquired complement deficiencies, possibly present at the time of initiation of the disease, may be important in many of the other cases.
A patient with severe acquired angioneurotic edema had essentially no C1- inhibitor activity in his serum and nearly died of cardiopulmonary arrest during an acute episode of facial, oral, and pharyngeal edema. This patient had an antibody directed against C1- inhibitor and C1- inhibitor-anti-C1- inhibitor complexes in his serum. The antibody required a normal residue (Arg) in the reactive center of the inhibitor for its optimal interaction with the inhibitor. Plasmapheresis with 5% human serum albumin replacement relieved him of his antibody load and the edema; additional treatment with pulsed cyclophosphamide has provided a sustained remission. The 5% albumin solution that was used contained functional C1- inhibitor; other lots that were tested contained only traces or none. No underlying disease has yet been identified. During this acute episode of edema, the C1- inhibitor in the patient's plasma was a 92 kd component, and on recovery, a 105 kd component reappeared. C1- inhibitor isolated from the patient's plasma, which was obtained before pheresis, was mainly in lower molecular weight forms (56 kd and 45 kd). The antibody in the patient's serum appeared to render C1- inhibitor susceptible to proteolysis, for when purified antibody was added to normal serum, a cleaved form of C1- inhibitor was generated.
C1 inhibitor (C1INH), the major plasma inhibitor of activated C1, kallikrein, and activated Hageman factor, may be an important factor in limiting inflammatory injury mediated by the complement and contact systems. C1INH is thought to be synthesized primarily in the liver; however, the regulators of hepatic C1 inhibitor synthesis are completely unknown. In this report, we analyze the regulation of C1INH synthesis by hepatocyte stimulating factors in human hepatoma cell lines and primary hepatocytes. Interleukin-6 and interferon gamma increase C1INH production in both hepatoma cells and hepatocytes. These cytokines stimulate de novo synthesis of functional C1INH, acting at a pretranslational level as assessed by Northern blotting. The stimulatory effects of interleukin-6 and interferon gamma on C1INH synthesis are separate and are differentially modulated by interleukin-1. These results establish that hepatic C1INH synthesis is regulated by hepatocyte stimulating factors and reveal novel interactions between these factors.
In 1982 we reported that among Caucasians with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) there is an increased frequency of C4A null. As this allele occurs on the HLA-A1,B8,BfS, C4AQO,B1,DR3 (8.1) supratype, we suggested this accounted for the reported association of B8 and DR3. Since then we have shown that many supratypes including 8.1 identify unique segments of DNA conserved from a common but remote ancestor. Many of these ancestral haplotypes (AH), including 8.1, carry disease genes and some bear C4 null. We have therefore tested the hypothesis that in SLE C4 null alleles are directly involved by examining (1) whether all or only some AH bearing C4 null alleles are increased, (2) whether C4 null is increased in all racial groups examined, and (3) whether C4 null is associated with the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in the absence of SLE. We performed HLA and complement allotyping on 62 Australian Caucasians and 9 Australian aborigines with SLE and on the 10 out of 133 healthy individuals with 7 or more international units of ANA. Our data confirm an association of C4A null in Australian Caucasians (gene frequency 0.30 versus 0.15 in controls) and show an increased frequency of C4B null in Australian aborigines (gene frequency 0.33 versus 0.22). A review of an extensive literature shows C4A and/or C4B null are increased in all racial groups examined. On the other hand, the HLA-A3,B7,BfS,C4A3,B1,DR2 (7.1) AH rather than C4 null is associated with ANA in health. Our data indicate that while C4 nulls contribute to MHC susceptibility, other genes are likely to be involved.
Two patients with systemic lupus erythematosus associated with homozygous deficiency of the second complement component (SLE-C2D) illustrate the different clinical disease patterns found in patients with this illness. Despite the differences in extent and severity of clinical manifestations and serological findings, the renal disease was similar and kidney function was well preserved in both patients. Renal microscopic changes were focal and segmental, deposits of immuno-globulins and complement components were present by immunofluorescent staining, and dense deposits were seen by electron microscopy. Tubulo-reticular inclusion bodies were found in glomerular endothelial cells and lymphocytes of both patients, but not in the lymphocytes of a clinically healthy C2D sibling. The findings in these two patients stress the importance of careful evaluation to determine the presence of systemic disease in patients with SLE-C2D and suggest that an intact classic complement pathway is important in the development of severe lupus, nephritis, but is not needed in the pathogenesis of lupus skin lesions.
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Deficiencies in proteins of the classic complement pathway are particularly frequent in patients with autoimmune diseases, notably systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The C4 component is a polymorphous glucoprotein coded by two closely linked genes, C4A and C4B, located within the HLA complex. C4, and in particular the C4A isotype plays a major role in maintaining immune complexes in solution. Fifty percent of patients with SLE are homozygous or heterozygous to the silent allele C4 AQO. Hereditary CE deficiency is often complicated by lupus-related diseases which may be associated with repeated infections. The biological particularity of SLE associated with complement protein deficiencies is the frequency of anti-SSA (Ro) antibodies.
Binding studies using purified decay-accelerating factor (DAF), CR1, and Factor H indicate that the primary interaction of DAF with C3 convertases is with the Bb or C2a subunits, whereas CR1 and Factor H interact primarily with the C3b or C4b subunits. The ability of soluble DAF, CR1, or Factor H to decay C3b,Bb bound to zymosan was inhibited by various concentrations of fluid-phase competitors (C3b, Bb, C3b,Bb, C3b,B, C4b, or C4b,C2a) in 0.1% NP-40 at 22 degrees C. The apparent association constants (appKa) for DAF were 0.045, 0.067, 0.91, 0.71, 0.00045, and 0.53 microM-1, respectively. The appKa for CR1 were 0.50, 0.0040, 1, 1, 1, and 1.1 microM-1, respectively. The appKa for Factor H were 4.3, 0.0005, 2.9, 6.3, 0.27, and 0.29 microM-1, respectively. Thus, C3b binds to DAF with a 10-fold lower affinity than to CR1 and a 100-fold lower affinity than to Factor H. The appKa of C3b,Bb for the three proteins were more similar: DAF (0.91 microM-1), CR1 (1 microM-1), and Factor H (2.9 microM-1). DAF binds to Bb with a 50% higher affinity than to C3b, and to C4b,C2a with a 1000-fold higher affinity than to C4b alone. In contrast, CR1 and Factor H bind almost equally well to the C3 convertases and to their noncatalytic subunits. The affinity of DAF for CVF,Bb was similar to its affinity for Bb alone, suggesting that DAF does not recognize conformational determinants unique to Bb in C3 convertases.
Extremely low C4 values were found in a 65-year-old man with relapsing arthritis and skin lesions of many years duration of the scalp, face, hands and feet together with painful ulcerations of the toes and fingers. The discovery was made during an exacerbation, but the deficiency of C4 persisted in repeated controls after remission. The clinical findings in connection with these low C4 values are in congruence with the diagnosis of inherited deficiency of C4.
Five hundred mexican mestizos, healthy blood donors were evaluated regarding the hemolytic activity of their serum, to assess the function of the complement (C) system. One of them was hypocomplementemic and his serum was unable to promote hemolysis by either classical or alternative pathway. It had normal protein concentrations of C3 and C4, as well as immunoreactive C1, C4, C5, C6, C7 and C8, and lytic factor D. Factor B was not recognizable. It is possible that a genetic deficiency linked to genes codifying for class III products of the major histocompatibility complex is responsible for our findings.
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Cells infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) express a cell surface receptor able to bind to the Fc region of immunoglobulin G (IgG). The ability of HSV-1-infected cells to bind 125I-labelled human and rabbit IgG and IgG fragments was studied to localize the site of interaction to the C gamma 2 or C gamma 3 domains of IgG. 125I-labelled IgG and IgG Fc fragments consisting of C gamma 2 and C gamma 3 domains bound strongly to HSV-infected cells and did not bind to uninfected cells. In contrast, 125I-labelled F(ab')2, Facb [consisting of F(ab')2 and C gamma 2 domains] and pFc' (consisting of C gamma 3 domains) fragments did not bind to any of these cells. Unlabelled IgG and IgG Fc fragments inhibited the interaction between 125I-labelled rabbit IgG Fc and the HSV Fc receptor, whereas F(ab')2, Facb and pFc' fragments failed to inhibit this interaction. These data indicate that the HSV Fc receptor requires both the C gamma 2 and C gamma 3 domains for interaction with the IgG molecule analogous to the known interaction of protein A of Staphylococcus aureus, the Fc binding proteins of Group A, C and G streptococci, and certain human rheumatoid factors.
Nonimmune activation of the first component of complement (C1) by cardiolipin (CL) vesicles present specific features which were not demonstrated on immune complexes. CL vesicles which activate C1 in the presence of C1-inhibitor (C1-INH) were found to bind C1s in the absence of C1r, and to induce a specific C1r-independent cleavage of C1q-bound C1s. Therefore, several known natural nonimmune activators were analyzed by comparing their ability to activate C1 in the presence of C1-INH and to mediate a C1r-independent cleavage of C1s. Freshly isolated human heart mitochondria (HHM) activated C1 only in the absence of C1-INH. However, mitoplasts derived from HHM (HHMP) activated C1 regardless of the presence of C1-INH, and induced a specific cleavage of C1q-bound C1s. The same pattern was observed in the case of smooth E. coli and a semi-rough E. coli strain. DNA, known to activate C1 only in the absence of C1-INH, does not induce C1s cleavage in the absence of C1r. Thus, nonimmune activators can be classified into two distinct categories. "Strong" activators, such as CL vesicles, HHMP, or the semi-rough E. coli strain J5 can activate C1 in the presence of C1-INH. By using C1qs2 as a probe, they exhibit a specific, C1r-independent cleavage of C1s. C1s-binding to C1q is a critical factor for the activation process in this group. In the case of "weak" activators, such as E. coli smooth strains, DNA, or HHM, no C1s-binding to activator-bound C1q was detected, and C1r-independent C1s cleavage and C1 activation in the presence of C1-INH were not observed. As in the case of immune complexes, C1r activation appears to play a key role in the C1 activation by "weak" activators.
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The availability of molecular probes for approximately half of the 20 known complement genes now permits a detailed examination of the regulation of complement expression in liver and at extrahepatic sites in tissue macrophages. Primary cell culture, cell lines and cells transfected with DNA bearing complement genes have been used in this analysis. Pretranslational regulation of complement production has been induced by well defined cytokines such as interleukin-1 and gamma-interferon, as well as directly by endotoxin. The effect of those agents on complement genes is tissue and species specific and is developmentally regulated. These data form the basis for the elucidation of the genomic structural requirements for regulation of inflammation and, by extension, specific immune responsiveness.