Complement System
Complement System
DEWI WULANDARI
Clinical Pathology Departement
Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia
Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital
Jakarta
Complement system
• First described in the 1880s as a system
capable of inducing lysis of bacteria and red
cells.
• In 1919, the Nobel Prize:
the Belgian microbiologist Bordet for his description
of the complement system.
• The term complement was given to
– the unnamed protein in serum from guinea pigs
– that complemented the antibody fraction in a lytic
assay.
• Today, the complement system is understood
as:
– a group of 14 proteins (C1-9, Factor B, D, H, I,
properdin)
– comprising the complement cascade
– more than 10 regulatory proteins
– at least seven receptors
– mediate the biologic functions
– a variety of proteins are capable of activating the
cascade.
Synthesis & Function
• Normal: 5% of serum protein
• In inflammation states: 7%
• Synthesis :
– Hepatocytes
– C1q, properdin, C7 : by myeloid cells
– Factor D : by adipocytes