The diversity of viral strategies to modulate complement activation indicates that this component of the immune system has significant antiviral potential. One example is the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) complement control protein (KCP), which inhibits progression of the complement cascade. Rhesus rhadinovirus (RRV), like KSHV, is a member of the subfamily Gammaherpesvirinae a...

BACKGROUND Contact of blood with the artificial surfaces of the cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) system is considered to be a main cause of complement activation. Improving the biocompatibility of the system by reduction of contact activation of blood elements and thereby producing less inflammatory response is evidently desired, especially for neonates and infants who are more susceptible to the d...

Bacteria exposed to host serum are subject to the antibacterial effects to the complement system. However, pathogenic microorganisms have evolved mechanisms of evading this immune attack. We have previously demonstrated that at least two R. conorii antigens, RC1281/Adr1 and OmpB β-peptide, contribute to the evasion of complement-mediated killing by binding the complement regulatory proteins vit...

Objective Despite numerous reports on the effects of meal frequency on biochemical parameters such as plasma lipid profile, glucose and insulin, there is almost no study to investigate the influence of meal frequency on immune system. In the present article, for the first time, the effect of meal frequency on complement components C3 and C4, as key components of the complement system, has been...

Background: Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare autosomal dominant primary immunodeficiency with complement system defect characterized by recurrent episodes of angioedema involving the skin or mucosa of the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. Objective: To characterize the clinical and laboratory data of hereditary angioedema in Iran. Methods: Patients with probable diagnosis of a...

Inflammation and thrombosis are two responses that are linked through a number of mechanisms, one of them being the complement system. Various proteins of the complement system interact specifically with platelets, which, in turn, activates them and promotes thrombosis. In this paper, we show that the converse is also true: activated platelets can activate the complement system. As assessed by ...

Complement, a complex protein system, plays an essential role in host defense through bacterial lysis, stimulation of phagocytosis, recruitment of immune cells to infected tissue, and promotion of the inflammatory response. Although complement is most well-characterized in serum, complement activity is also present in the lung. Here we further characterize the complement system in the normal an...

Since the brain is separated from the blood immune system by a tight barrier, the brain-resident complement system may represent a central player in the immune defense of this compartment against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Chronic complement activation, however, may participate in HIV-associated neurodegeneration. Since the level of complement factors in the cerebrospinal fluid is know...

Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) screening methods are an effective means for the detection of protein-protein interactions. Optimisation and automation has increased the throughput of the method to an extent that allows the systematic mapping of protein-protein interactions on a proteome-wide scale. Since two-hybrid screens fail to detect a great number of interactions, parallel high-throughput approach...