The complement system. the classical pathway of complement activation .pptx
- 1. The complement system Classical pathway of complement activation Group 1 Emmanuel Maina Asia Muhammed Mary Moraa
- 2. Key terminologies • Zymogens-Proteins that are inactive until cleaved by proteases. Several complement components are proteolytic enzymes that cleave and activate the next member of a complement reaction sequence. • Opsonin- Phagocytosis-enhancing component. For C3 and C4, the larger fragments, C3b and C4b, serve as opsonin binding covalently to microbial cells and serving as ligands for phagocytic cells with receptors for C3b or C4b. • Anaphylatoxins- fragments bind to receptors on the endothelial cells lining small blood vessels and induce an increase in capillary diameter, thus enhancing blood flow to the affected area. They also attract other cells to the site of tissue damage. C3a and C5a are examples. • Membrane attack complex (MAC)- insert into the cell membranes of invading microorganisms and punch holes that result in lysis of the pathogen. • Complement receptor proteins- are receptor molecules on cell surfaces bind complement proteins and signal specific cell functions. For example, some complement receptors such as CR1 bind to complement components such as C3b that have opsonized pathogens, triggering phagocytosis of the C3b-bound pathogen. • Regulatory complement components- they protect host cells from unintended complement mediated damage. These regulatory proteins include factor I, which degrades C3b, and CD59 (protectin), which inhibits the formation of the MAC on host cells.
- 3. The classical pathway • it begins with formation of antigen antibody complexes. they may be formed when an antibody binds to an antigenic determinant or epitope situated on viral, fungal, parasitic or bacterial cell membrane. Only complexes formed by antigens with antibodies of the IgM class or certain subclasses of IgG antibodies are capable of activating the classical complement pathway. The initial activation involves interaction of these antibody-antigen complexes with the complement components C1, C2, and C4, normally found in the plasma as inactive precursors or zymogens. The formation of an antigen-antibody complex induces conformational changes in the nonantigen-binding (Fc) portion of the antibody molecule. This conformational change exposes a binding site on the antibody for the C1 component of complement.
- 5. The classical pathway • Each C1 macromolecular complex must bind to at least two antibody constant regions for a stable C1q- antibody interaction to occur. when pentameric IgM is bound to a multivalent antigen, it undergoes a substantial conformational change, assuming a “staple” configuration. and revealing at least three binding sites for C1q. Thus, an IgM molecule engaged in an antibody-antigen complex can bind C1q, whereas circulating, non-antigen-bound IgM cannot. In contrast to pentameric IgM, monomeric IgG contains only one C1q-binding site per molecule. Although this C1q-binding site is exposed, the affinity of this exposed binding site is too low to allow complement activation in the absence of antibody polymerization. C1q is also capable of directly binding to a number of ligands independently of IgM or IgG, leading to activation of the complement cascade.
- 6. The classical pathway • Binding of C1q to the C 2 domains of the Fc regions of the antigen-complexed antibody molecule induces a conformational change in one of the C1r molecules. This conformational change in the C1r molecule converts it to an active serine protease enzyme that then cleaves and activates its partner C1r molecule. The two C1r proteases then cleave and activate the two C1s molecules. • Activated C1s has two substrates, C4 and C2. C4 is activated when C1s hydrolyzes a small fragment (C4a) from the amino terminus of one of its chains. The C4b fragment attaches covalently to the target membrane surface in the vicinity of C1, and then binds C2. C4b binding to the membrane occurs when an unstable, internal thioester on C4b is exposed on C4 cleavage and reacts with hydroxyl or amino groups of proteins or carbohydrates on the cell membrane. approximately 90% of C4b is hydrolyzed before it can bind the cell surface. C4b is also capable of forming covalent bonds with the constant regions of antibody molecules involved in antigen-antibody complexes.
- 7. The classical pathway • On binding C4b at the membrane surface or on an immune complex, C2 becomes susceptible to cleavage by the neighboring C1s enzyme. A smaller C2b fragment diffuses away, leaving behind an enzymatically active C4b2a complex. In this complex, C2a is the enzymatically active fragment, but it is active only when bound by C4b. This C4b2a complex, as we learned earlier, is the C3 convertase that converts C3 into its enzymatically active form. • The membrane-bound or immune complex–bound C3 convertase enzyme, C4b2a, now hydrolyzes C3, generating two unequal fragments: the small anaphylatoxin C3a, and the pivotally important fragment C3b. The generation of C3b is an essential precursor to many of the subsequent reactions of the complement system. • Deficiencies of complement components that act prior to C3 cleavage leave the host extremely vulnerable to both infectious and autoimmune diseases, whereas deficiencies of components later in the pathway are generally of lesser consequence. In particular, patients with deficiencies in C3 itself are unusually susceptible to infections with both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.
- 8. The classical pathways • In a manner very similar to that of C4b, C3b binds covalently to microbial surfaces, providing a molecular “tag” that allows phagocytic cells with C3b receptors to engulf the tagged microbes. This process is called opsonization. • C3b, like C4b, can attach to the Fc portions of antibodies participating in soluble antigen- antibody complexes. These C3b-tagged immune complexes are bound by C3b receptors on phagocytes or red blood cells, and are either phagocytosed, or conveyed to the liver where they are destroyed. • Some molecules of C3b bind the membrane-localized C4b2a enzyme to form the trimolecular, membrane-bound, C5 convertase complex C4b2a3b (see Overview Figure 5-5, parts 3 and 4). As we will see later, the C3b component of this complex binds C5, and the complex then cleaves C5 into the two fragments: C5b and C5a. C4b2a3b is therefore the C5 convertase of the classical pathway. The trio of tasks accomplished by the C3b molecule places it right at the center of complement attack pathways. C3b is thus a central component in all three complement activation pathways.
- 9. thank you all god bless you. All the best in this journey. We’ve got this folks.