Complement and complement-like activity in lower vertebrates and invertebrates
01 Nov 1970-Journal of Experimental Medicine (The Rockefeller University Press)-Vol. 132, Iss: 5, pp 941-950
TL;DR: Lysis-inducing activity of purified CVF occurs in a wide range of species, has revealed activities resembling those of terminal C-components in lower vertebrates and invertebrates, and provides one means for study of C-like activities in primitive species.
Abstract: A purified cobra venom factor with C-inhibiting activity also promotes lysis of erythrocytes in fresh mammalian serum. Lysis-inducing activity of purified cobra venom factor was found in sera of lower vertebrates including the cyclostome hagfish and in invertebrates. Lysis-inducing activity was most effective with frog serum. Frog serum was found to be more hemolytic for E(s) in the presence of CVF than when cells were sensitized with hemolysin. The hemolysis induced by CVF with frog serum, as in the higher vertebrates, was inhibited when sera were pretreated with known C inhibitors including heat, chelators, endotoxin, immune complexes, and CVF itself. Complexes formed with CVF and either frog serum or invertebrate hemolymph promoted lysis of indicator cells in the presence of frog serum in EDTA. This lysis was most marked when the starfish-CVF complex was used and was C-dependent. Conversely, complex formed with frog serum and CVF promoted lysis of E in the presence of invertebrate hemolymph (Limulus) in EDTA. Hence, serum components were to some degree at least interchangeable between vertebrate sera and invertebrate hemolymph. Lysis-inducing activity of purified CVF occurs in a wide range of species, has revealed activities resembling those of terminal C-components in lower vertebrates and invertebrates, and provides one means for study of C and C-like activities in primitive species.
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TL;DR: This chapter discusses basic concepts and advances of invertebrate immunity and provides a functional approach for blood cell classification and the cells are arranged into five main groups—namely, progenitor cells, phagocytic cells, hemostatic cells, nutritive cells, and pigmented cells.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses basic concepts and advances of invertebrate immunity. In mammals and other higher vertebrates, a plethora of information exists on the origin, development, structure, and functions of the cells and tissues of the immune system. The cells of the invertebrate immune system can be subdivided into two main groups—namely, the freely circulating blood cells/coelomocytes and a variety of fixed cells. These latter cells may be either scattered throughout the tissues or localized together in hemopoietidphagocytic organs. In addition to these cell-mediated defenses, there are a number of chemical and mechanical barriers to parasite invasion. The chapter also explains the structure and classification of blood cells/coelomocytes. It provides a functional approach for blood cell classification and the cells are arranged into five main groups—namely, progenitor cells, phagocytic cells, hemostatic cells, nutritive cells, and pigmented cells.
603 citations
TL;DR: Fish contain naturally-occurring, relatively nonspecific, lectin-like proteins or glycoproteins, which are distinct from immunoglobulins, and which react with a wide variety of antigens and may confer some degree of immunity against natural infection.
Abstract: Natural‘antibodies’are substances found in the blood of animals that have not been immunised against infective agents. However, exposure to these agents or to cross-reacting antigens may well have taken place. Fish contain naturally-occurring, relatively nonspecific, lectin-like proteins or glycoproteins, which are distinct from immunoglobulins, and which react with a wide variety of antigens and may confer some degree of immunity against natural infection. In most cases the cause of the antigenic stimulus is not obvious although the formation of these‘antibodies’may have been brought about by exposure to various micro-organisms. Many of these antibody-like molecules behave in a similar manner to immune antibodies or immunoglobulins and cross-react with specific carbohydrate moieties on the cell walls of bacteria, erythrocytes and certain other cellular antigens, due to the presence of similar antigenic determinants.
It is difficult to ascribe an appropriate definition to the term‘natural antibody’. In fish, these‘antibodies’have been so designated on the basis of functional rather than structural criteria. Such naturally-occurring, low grade, antibody-like‘immune’substances include‘acute phase’proteins, lysozyme and chitinase, interferon, agglutinins, lysins, complement and properdin, precipitins, and non-immunoglobulin, lectin-like molecules. In addition to the above non-immunoglobulin materials, natural immunoglobulins identifiable as IgM have also been reported in fish. Furthermore, mucus contains many biochemical agents capable of reaction against infective organisms and thus providing the host with an immediate or a first line of defence mechanism.
This review compiles some of the relevant information in the literature concerned with natural‘immune’substances, present in the serum and mucus of fish, involved in protection against pathogens. Wherever possible the basic physicochemical properties of these substances are indicated and their potential immunobiological functions discussed.
374 citations
TL;DR: A large number of these abnormalities are related to Epstein-Barr virus infection, and the use of chemotherapy to correct these problems is a natural progression of disease.
Abstract: Acquired Abnormalities Alterations in the complement system associated with human disease have been appreciated since early in this century,152 but only within recent years have measurements of ser...
329 citations
TL;DR: The C3 and factor B genes, but probably not the other complement genes, are present in the genome of the cnidaria and some protostomes, indicating that the origin of the central part of the complement system was established more than 1,000 MYA.
Abstract: The recent accumulation of genomic information of many representative animals has made it possible to trace the evolution of the complement system based on the presence or absence of each complement gene in the analyzed genomes. Genome information from a few mammals, chicken, clawed frog, a few bony fish, sea squirt, fruit fly, nematoda and sea anemone indicate that bony fish and higher vertebrates share practically the same set of complement genes. This suggests that most of the gene duplications that played an essential role in establishing the mammalian complement system had occurred by the time of the teleost/mammalian divergence around 500 million years ago (MYA). Members of most complement gene families are also present in ascidians, although they do not show a one-to-one correspondence to their counterparts in higher vertebrates, indicating that the gene duplications of each gene family occurred independently in vertebrates and ascidians. The C3 and factor B genes, but probably not the other complement genes, are present in the genome of the cnidaria and some protostomes, indicating that the origin of the central part of the complement system was established more than 1,000 MYA.
253 citations
Cites background from "Complement and complement-like acti..."
...For example, the complement-like activity once reported from arthropod hemolymph, which can be rendered hemolytic after activation by cobra venom factor (Day et al. 1970), turned out to be lecithin that was converted to lysolecithin by phospholipase A present in the cobra venom factor preparations (Hall et al....
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...…the complement-like activity once reported from arthropod hemolymph, which can be rendered hemolytic after activation by cobra venom factor (Day et al. 1970), turned out to be lecithin that was converted to lysolecithin by phospholipase A present in the cobra venom factor preparations…...
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that the silk moth pupae of Samia cynthia contain an inducible antibacterial activity in their hemolymph, which was triggered by primary infection with either Escherichia coli K-12 or Enterobacter cloacae.
Abstract: Pupae of the silk moth, Samia cynthia, were found to contain an inducible antibacterial activity in their hemolymph. This immunity response was provoked by primary infections with either Escherichia coli K-12 or Enterobacter cloacae. In both cases the antibacterial activity was directed chiefly towards E. coli. During standard conditions, 1% of hemolymph could kill 103 to 104 viable E. coli, strain D31, within 5 min. A lower level of antibacterial activity was induced by injections of a sterile salt solution. The killing of strain D31 followed single-hit kinetics, and increasing rate constants were obtained for increasing amounts of hemolymph. The reaction was sensitive to pretreatment with trypsin and it was protected by reducing agents. The activity was inhibited by microgram quantities of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) prepared from certain LPS mutants of E. coli K-12. A comparison of the susceptibility showed that “heptose-less” LPS mutants were more sensitive to killing than other strains. During standard conditions hemolymph will lyse both E. coli and Micrococcus lysodeikticus. Lysis of E. coli followed a multi-hit kinetics and it was inhibited by LPS, whereas lysis of M. lysodeikticus was unaffected by LPS. Hemolymph was fractionated on Sephadex G-200, and the lytic activities were recovered in partly overlapping peaks. Reconstitution with pooled fractions gave synergistic effects with the killing assay.
204 citations
References
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TL;DR: C′1 precipitates from normal guinea-pig serum at ionic strength 0.04-0.06 and pH 5.5 and may be purified further by reprecipitation during dialysis against 0.005 m phosphate buffer, pH 7.5.
553 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The low molecular weight cobra factor (140,000) has both anticomplementary activity and guinea pig erythrocyte hemolytic activity in vitro and mechanisms for the hemolysis of guinea pigs by cobrafactor are discussed.
Abstract: A second anticomplementary material in cobra venom is described and characterized by its large molecular size (0.8 to 1.0 × 10 6 molecular weight), its action on the early components of complement, but not C3 or C5, and its inability to lyse guinea pig erythrocytes. The low molecular weight cobra factor (140,000) has both anticomplementary activity and guinea pig erythrocyte hemolytic activity in vitro . Its ability to lyse erythrocytes depends on the formation of a complex between L-CoF and a cofactor in serum and upon an intact sequence of complement components from C3 on. Purified L-CoF was found to bind to the surface of guinea pig erythrocytes in very small amounts so that lysis of the cells occurred after washing and exposure to a source of C3–C9. Mechanisms for the hemolysis of guinea pig erythrocytes by cobra factor are discussed.
256 citations
TL;DR: The biologic significance of the plasmin-generated chemotactic factor is discussed in relation to other recently discovered biologically active fragments of C'3 and it is calculated that this fragment accounts for approximately 4% of the intact molecule.
Abstract: When streptokinase and highly purified human plasminogen are added to human serum or to partly purified or highly purified preparations containing the third component of complement (C'3), either rabbit or human, a chemotactic factor is generated. This chemotactic factor is a split product of C'3 and is dialyzable, fast moving electrophoretically, slowly sedimenting in sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation, and has an approximate molecular weight of 6000. It is calculated that this fragment accounts for approximately 4% of the intact molecule.
The C'3 fragment has the following biologic properties: It is chemotactic for rabbit PMN's in vitro, it causes accumulation of PMN's in vivo, and it increases vascular permeability in rat skin.
In addition to generating a chemotactic factor, plasmin destroys the complement-associated chemotactic factor that is a trimolecular complex consisting of the fifth (C'5), sixth (C'6), and seventh (C'7) components of complement. This has been shown by a loss of chemotactic activity, as well as a dissociation of the C'5, C'6, C'7 complex and a destruction of C'6 hemolytic activity.
The biologic significance of the plasmin-generated chemotactic factor is discussed in relation to other recently discovered biologically active fragments of C'3.
239 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The presence in the neutrophil of an enzyme capable of cleaving C5 into chemotactically active fragments may reflect the potential for the neutophil to exacerbate in a non-immunologic manner the acute inflammatory process once it is underway.
Abstract: Lysosomal granules from rabbit neutrophilic leukocytes contain an enzyme that cleaves the fifth component of human complement (C5) into chemotactically active fragments. The enzyme cleaves C5, but not the third component of complement, into chemotactically active fragments of variable molecular weights, depending upon conditions of incubation. One fragment consistently behaves in ultracentrifugation and gel filtration similar to the reference standard cytochrome c . The amount of chemotactic activity generated by interaction of the lysosomal granule lysate and C5 is a function of concentrations of C5 and lysate, as well as duration of incubation. The C5-cleaving enzyme of neutrophil lysosomal granules has a neutral pH optimum for activity. Based upon gel filtration, it has an estimated molecular weight of 35,000, is inhibited by esters bearing basic amino acids, is susceptible to inhibition by e-amino caproic acid and in varying degree is susceptible to action of soybean trypsin inhibitor and EDTA. The presence in the neutrophil of an enzyme capable of cleaving C5 into chemotactically active fragments may reflect the potential for the neutrophil to exacerbate in a non-immunologic manner the acute inflammatory process once it is underway.
233 citations
TL;DR: The significance of the various mechanisms to human disease and the mediation of acute immunologic injury of tissues in which certain proteins from the plasma, together with certain cellular factors, notably the neutrophilic leukocytes, play significant and interdependent roles is discussed.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the neutrophilic leukocyte because of growing evidence for an important role for this cell type. It discusses the significance of the various mechanisms to human disease and the mediation of acute immunologic injury of tissues in which certain proteins from the plasma, together with certain cellular factors, notably the neutrophilic leukocytes, play significant and interdependent roles. This pathway of mediation in present state of knowledge is distinguishable from other systems of mediation by the principal cell involved, the neutrophile. The pathways of mediation that eventuate in injury of a particular structure in tissues are discussed. Evidence of immunologically induced, neutrophile-mediated injury in human disease is circumspect at present. Direct evidence implicating antigens and antibodies as inciting agents in human disease is accumulated, for example, in the pathogenesis of various forms of glomerulonephritis. In acute and chronic human glomerulonephritis, the deposition of γ-globulin and complement has been well-recorded.
222 citations