Open AccessStructural transitions of complement component C3 and its activation products
Author(s) -
N. Nishida,
Thomas Walz,
Timothy A. Springer
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.0609791104
Subject(s) - anaphylatoxin , cleavage (geology) , complement system , chemistry , thioester , stereochemistry , linker , biophysics , biochemistry , biology , enzyme , antibody , paleontology , fracture (geology) , computer science , immunology , operating system
Complement sensitizes pathogens for phagocytosis and lysis. We use electron microscopy to examine the structural transitions in the activation of the pivotal protein in the complement pathway, C3. In the cleavage product C3b, the position of the thioester domain moves ≈100 Å, which becomes covalently coupled to antigenic surfaces. In the iC3b fragment, cleavage in an intervening domain creates a long flexible linker between the thioester domain and the macroglobulin domain ring of C3. Studies on two products of nucleophile addition to C3 reveal a structural intermediate in activation, and a final product, in which the anaphylatoxin domain has undergone a remarkable movement through the macroglobulin ring.