L8 complement system Flashcards
what kind of response is the complement?
innate humoral response
bordet’s experiment: non-immunized serum with bacteria = …
no effect
bordet’s experiment: immunized serum with bacteria = …
lysis
immunized serum + heat + bacterium = ….
no effect
immunized serum + heat + non-immunized serum + bacterium = …
lysis
what kind of proteins is the complement system compromised of?
soluble plasma proteins and membrane-bound proteins
what cells are complement proteins synthesized by?
- hepatocytes (liver cells), main producers
- fibroblasts
- epithelial cells
- monocytes
- macrophages
what are the seven functional categories of complement components?
- initiators
- enzymatic inhibitors
- phagocytosis-enhancing components/opsonins
- inflammatory mediators
- membrane attack proteins
- complement receptors
- regulatory complement components
what do initiators do?
initiate complement reactions,
bind to soluble or membrane-bound molecules,
binds to their ligand causing conformational changes = activation
what are enzymatic mediators, and what do they do?
cleave proteins (most enzymatic mediators are proteolytic enzymes) to activate = zymogens
what do opsonins do?
enhance phagocytosis through binding to the complement receptors on the surface of phagocytic cells
what do inflammatory mediators do?
they are smaller cleavage products, and bind to receptors on endothelial cells of blood vessels increasing capillary diameter. they also bind to receptors and attract other cells (chemotaxis)
ex. C3a and C5a
what do membrane attack proteins do?
form the membrane attack complex (MAC). they insert themselves in the membranes of microorganisms to punch holes leading to lysis. they can also form on the surface of infected cells
what are complement receptors, and what are the effects of binding to these receptors?
abbreviated as “CR”, bind to complement proteins and signal specific cell functions. they can enhance phagocytosis, cell activation, induce degranulation, chemotaxis, and clearance of immune complexes
what do regulatory complement components do?
prevent unintended complement-mediated damage of host cells
ex. factor 1 degrade complement components to prevent deposition of components