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In the classical complement pathway, the C1 initiation complex binds to danger patterns on the surface of microbes or damaged host cells and triggers an immune response. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies form hexamers on cell surfaces that have high avidity for the C1 complex. Ugurlar et al. used cryo–electron microscopy to show how a hexamer of C1 complexes interacts with the IgG hexamer. Structure-guided mutagenesis revealed how C1 is activated to trigger an immune response. Science , this issue p. 794 Cryo–electron microscopy structures suggest mechanisms for how danger patterns on cell membranes trigger an immune response. Danger patterns on microbes or damaged host cells bind and activate C1, inducing innate immune responses and clearance through the complement cascade. How these patterns trigger complement initiation remains elusive. Here, we present cryo–electron microscopy analyses of C1 bound to monoclonal antibodies in which we observed heterogeneous structures of single and clustered C1–immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) hexamer complexes. Distinct C1q binding sites are observed on the two Fc-CH2 domains of each IgG molecule. These are consistent with known interactions and also reveal additional interactions, which are supported by functional IgG1-mutant analysis. Upon antibody binding, the C1q arms condense, inducing rearrangements of the C1r 2 s 2 proteases and tilting C1q’s cone-shaped stalk. The data suggest that C1r may activate C1s within single, strained C1 complexes or between neighboring C1 complexes on surfaces.

Adenovirus (AdV) infection elicits a strong immune response with the production of neutralizing antibodies and opsonization by complement and coagulation factors. One anti-hexon neutralizing antibody, called 9C12, is known to activate the complement cascade, resulting in the deposition of complement component C4b on the capsid, and the neutralization of the virus. The mechanism of AdV neutralization by C4b is independent of downstream complement proteins and involves the blockage of the release of protein VI, which is required for viral escape from the endosome. To investigate the structural basis underlying how C4b blocks the uncoating of AdV, we built a model for the complex of human adenovirus type-5 (HAdV5) with 9C12, together with complement components C1 and C4b. This model positions C4b near the Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) loops of the penton base. There are multiple amino acids in the RGD loop that might serve as covalent binding sites for the reactive thioester of C4b. Molecular dynamics simulations with a multimeric penton base and C4b indicated that stabilizing interactions may form between C4b and multiple RGD loops. We propose that C4b deposition on one RGD loop leads to the entanglement of C4b with additional RGD loops on the same penton base multimer and that this entanglement blocks AdV uncoating.

The pentraxin family of proteins includes C-reactive protein (CRP), a canonical marker for the acute phase inflammatory response. As compared to normal physiological conditions in human serum, under conditions associated with damage and inflammation, such as acidosis and the oxidative burst, CRP exhibits modulated biochemical properties that may have a structural basis. Here, we explore how pH and ligand binding affect the structure and biochemical properties of CRP. Cryo-electron microscopy was used to solve structures of CRP at pH 7.5 or pH 5 and in the presence or absence of the ligand phosphocholine (PCh), which yielded 7 new high-resolution structures of CRP, including pentameric and decameric complexes. Structures previously derived from crystallography were imperfect pentagons, as shown by the variable angles between each subunit, whereas pentameric CRP derived from cryoEM was found to have C5 symmetry, with subunits forming a regular pentagon with equal angles. This discrepancy indicates flexibility at the interfaces of monomers that may relate to activation of the complement system by the C1 complex. CRP also appears to readily decamerise in solution into dimers of pentamers, which obscures the postulated binding sites for C1. Subtle structural rearrangements were observed between the conditions tested, including a putative change in histidine protonation that may prime the disulphide bridges for reduction and enhanced ability to activate the immune system. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays showed that CRP had markedly increased association to the C1 complex and immunoglobulins under conditions associated with acidosis, whilst a reduction in the Ca 2+ concentration lowered this pH-sensitivity for C1q, but not immunoglobulins, suggesting different modes of binding. These data suggest a model whereby a change in the ionic nature of CRP and immunological proteins can make it more adhesive to potential ligands without large structural rearrangements.

Many pathological conditions of the central nervous system involve damage to and removal of myelin membrane. Very little is known about initiation of this membrane damage and the mechanisms of disposal of the damaged tissue. We are interested in the interaction between complement (the components of complement are designated C1, C2, C3, etc.) and myelin membranes and the possible role of complement in amplifying myelin damage and in the disposal of damaged myelin in vivo, because activation of complement generates both membrane-attack complexes and opsonin(s). In this study, we found that isolated rat or human myelin consumes complement in the absence of specific antibodies. Activation of complement was demonstrated by showing C3 cleavage in fresh serum incubated with myelin. Incubation of central nervous system myelin with C2-deficient serum produced no C5 consumption and only minor factor B conversion, thus excluding the alternative pathway of activation. Involvement of the classical pathway was shown directly by the C1 fixation and transfer assay. Myelin incubated with C2-deficient serum or with purified C1 and then washed contained C1 activity that could lyse sheep erythrocytes sensitized with anti-Forssman IgM antibody and carrying C4, together with C2 and C3-C9. Membranes in brain tissues other than myelin (heavy membrane fraction obtained on sucrose density gradient centrifugation) were unable to activate C1.

Postonchospheral stages of Taenia taeniaeformis liberated from rat livers by enzymatic digestion at 1 to 10 days postinfection (DPI) and metacestodes dissected from infected livers at 22, 34, and 69 DPI were exposed in vitro to immune rat serum (IRS) and to normal serum from rats (NRS), human beings (NHS), or guinea pigs (NGS). The onset of rapid and destructive tegumental changes in all organisms exposed to any of the sera was demonstrated to be complement-dependent because the reaction was: (a) inhibited by treatment of serum at 56 C for 30 min; (b) inhibited by prior incubation of serum with zymosan or with complement-fixing, soluble products derived from larvae of T. taeniaeformis maintained in vitro (IVP); and (c) abolished by the addition of EDTA. Lytic effects occurred on exposure to agammaglobulinemic sheep serum, and lysis in the presence of IRS and NRS was shown to result in consumption of available hemolytic complement. Surface changes consisted of vesiculation in the microvillar or microthrix layers followed by sloughing of the tegument, eventually leading to collapse of the cystic bladder and cessation of flame cell activity, or, in the case of early postonchospheral forms, complete disintegration of the organism. When IVP was added to NHS, reduction of hemolytic complement activity was associated with the electrophoretic conversion of C3, and Factor B, but there was little or no consumption of C1. The observations support the hypothesis that complement-mediated effector mechanisms must be counteracted to ensure survival of parasites in vivo, and that the capacity for release of soluble nonspecific complement-fixing factors by taeniid larvae may have an important role to play in this process.

Electron micrographs are shown of the first component of human complement (C1) which has been crosslinked with a water-soluble carbodiimide to prevent dissociation into its C1q and C1r2C1s2subunits. Two projections of the crosslinked molecule are seen in the electron micrographs, which are called ``top'' and ``profile.'' In both views, the C1q heads are visible. From the top, the C1r2C1s2tetrameric subunit appears to be located centrally on the C1q and folded to form a compact mass obscuring most of the arms and central bundle. In profile, the tetramer appears to be located in the region of the arms between the C1q heads and the central bundle. Both the heads and the rod-like central bundle appear to be free of C1r2C1s2in these profile projections. Sometimes it is possible to count more than six domains in the region of the C1q heads, as though a portion of the tetramer had unfolded to protrude among the heads.

Four girls born to second cousin parents developed chronic chest infection and bronchiectasis in infancy. Three were studied in detail: they all had the same HLA haplotype, all showed random orientation of cilia or compound cilia in the respiratory tract, and all had low levels of the C1 and C2 components of the complement system. Although the cause of the respiratory disease in this family remains unclear, it is suggested that the low C1 levels may have contributed to the disease in two of the children while the low C2 levels were artefacts and the ciliary abnormalities were secondary to chronic chest infection.

A case of transient nephrotic syndrome caused by secondary syphilis is described. A renal biopsy was performed revealing subepithelial hump-like electron-dense deposits and fusion of epithelial foot-processes. Complement C1q-binding-activity and anticomplementarity were demonstrated in the blood, indicating the presence of circulating immune complexes. This strongly suggests that circulating immune complexes are significant in the immunopathogenesis of syphilitic nephropathy.