For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
The alternative complement pathway provides innate protection against microbial agents in the absence of specific antibody.1-5 The activation of this complement pathway can be triggered by a variety of substances including microbial polysaccharides or lipids, gram negative bacterial lipopolysaccharides, and surface determinants present on some viruses, parasites, virally infected mammalian cells, and cancer cells. In autoimmune diseases, the alternative complement pathway may contribute directly to tissue damage.
Factor H is involved in the regulation of the alternative pathway of complement. In blood, activation of C3, under normal conditions, is kept at a low level by the control proteins, Factor H and Factor I. Factor H functions in two ways to inactivate the C3bBb enzyme: (1) it accelerates the dissociation of Bb from C3b; and (2) it serves as a cofactor for Factor I, a serine protease, which cleaves C3b into iC3b, which can no longer form the C3 convertase with Factor B.6
-
Pangburn, M.K. and Müller-Eberhard, H.J. The alternative pathway of complement. Springer Semin. Immunopathol. 1984;7:163.
-
Ratnoff, W.E., Fearon, D.T., and Austen, K.F. The role of antibody in the activation of the alternative complement pathway. Springer Semin. Immunopathol. 1983;6:361.
Product Specifications
Format
|
ELISA |
Assay time
|
150 minutes |
Test/kit
|
96 wells/plate |
Sample Type
|
Various |
Ordering Information
Catalog Number | Description |
---|---|
A039
|
96 Wells/Plate, control included |
A040
|
96 Wells/Plate, control included |