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Classical pathway activation of complement system by IgA anti-C3 antibody

Abstract

ANTIBODIES which react with native C3 are present in high titre in adult1 and neonatal saliva2. Although they belong to the TgA class they are macromolecules with a sedimentation coefficient of greater than 19S. They are also unusual in that their binding to C3 is dependent on the presence of calcium ions and they can be dissociated from C3 by 0.01 M EDTA1,2. Our preliminary studies on the properties of this antibody had shown that it could activate the complement system and in this paper we report investigations to determine whether this proceeds by way of the classical or alternative pathway.

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WILLIAMS, B., SLANEY, J., PRICE, J. et al. Classical pathway activation of complement system by IgA anti-C3 antibody. Nature 259, 52–53 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/259052a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/259052a0

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