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Complementing asthma

Nature Immunology volume 1, pages 190–192 (2000)Cite this article

The complement inflammatory cascade is crucial to our innate ability to ward off infection. Two papers now provide evidence linking C5 and C3a to murine airway hyperresponsiveness, a partial model of human asthma. Surprisingly, these complement proteins appear to have opposite effects.

Despite its long history of association with immunological and inflammatory reactions, the complement system has seemingly fallen out of favor with investigators over the last decade or so, apparently being superceded by the attention currently devoted to cytokine and chemokine networks. However, the recent re-emphasis being placed on the so-called innate immune system, long a recognized feature of the complement pathways, seems to have rekindled a broader interest in this system. In addition, one aspect of the complement system that has received consistent attention is the functions and mechanisms of action of the biologically active fragments derived from the C3, C4 and C5 family of proteins. These fragments, C3a, C4a and C5a, are cleaved from the amino-terminus of the parent molecule α chain by the action of a variety of proteases, from the complement pathway itself, or from other sources, such as inflammatory cells. The most recent additions to our understanding of their many potential activities have come from characterization of their receptors and genetic deletion of these in mice. Karp et al. in this issue of Nature Immunology and Humbles et al. in this week's Nature report studies of mice with genetic alterations in these complement pathways and provide evidence for a link between complement and regulation of allergy1,2.

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Figure 1: Possible involvement of C3 and C5 in allergen-induced airways hyperresponsiveness (AHR).

References

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  1. Department of Pediatrics, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, 1400 Jackson St., Rm. D508, Denver , 80206-2761, CO, USA

    Peter Henson

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  1. Peter Henson
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Henson, P. Complementing asthma. Nat Immunol 1, 190–192 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/79723

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/79723

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