Complement forms an important arm of innate immunity against invasive meningococcal infections. Binding of the alternative complement pathway inhibitor factor H (fH) to fH-binding protein (fHbp) is one mechanism meningococci employ to limit complement activation on the bacterial surface. fHbp is a leading vaccine candidate against group B Neisseria meningitidis. Novel mechanisms that meningococ...

PURPOSE The Y402H polymorphism in the complement regulator factor H (fH) is strongly associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) across diverse populations. Persons homozygous for histidine at this position have up to 12-fold greater risk for AMD than those homozygous for tyrosine. Knowledge of fH-Y402H status is, therefore, valuable in predicting risk and focusing preventive measure...

Factor H (fH), a key alternative complement pathway regulator, is a cofactor for factor I-mediated cleavage of C3b. fH consists of 20 short consensus repeat (SCR) domains. Sialic acid binding domains have previously been localized to fH SCRs 6-10 and 13. To examine fH binding on a sialylated microbial surface, we grew Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the presence of 5'-cytidinemonophospho-N-acetylneura...

INTRODUCTION Patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) are characterized by high total and LDL cholesterol. Pregnant women with FH have higher absolute levels of total and LDL cholesterol, and a more pro-coagulant pattern compared with healthy pregnant women. Maternal hypercholesterolaemia has been shown to affect early atherosclerosis formation in the offspring. The aim of the present ...

Our aim was to examine changes in heart rate (fh) during the embryonic and posthatching periods of the smallest precocial avian species, Coturnix chinensis. In experiment I, repeated measurements of mean fh were made for individual quail by ballistocardiogram (BCG) during incubation, and by both piezo-electric film and electrocardiogram (ECG) during the posthatching period (resting and thermone...

Heart rate and peripheral blood flow distribution are the primary determinants of the rate and pattern of oxygen store utilisation and ultimately breath-hold duration in marine endotherms. Despite this, little is known about how otariids (sea lions and fur seals) regulate heart rate (fH) while diving. We investigated dive fH in five adult female California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) dur...

Both Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae recruit the alternative pathway complement inhibitory protein factor H (fH) to their surfaces to evade complement-dependent killing. Meningococci bind fH via fH binding protein (fHbp), a surface-exposed lipoprotein that is subdivided into three variant families based on one classification scheme. Chimeric proteins that comprise contiguous do...

Introduction-This an in-depth investigation of the relationship between some new aspects of positive family history (FH) of coronary artery disease (CAD) and other risk factors related to CAD in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). MethodThe data of 200 patients with AMI and positive FH of CAD (FH Pos.)as case groupand 200 AMI patients without FH of CAD -as control group(FH Neg.) we...

PURPOSE Polymorphisms in factor H (fH), an inhibitor of the alternative pathway (AP) of complement activation, are associated with increased risk for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The authors investigated the therapeutic use of a novel recombinant form of fH, CR2-fH, which is targeted to sites of complement activation, in mouse choroidal neovascularization (CNV). CR2-fH consists of th...

Neisseria gonorrhoeae can engage human complement receptor 3 (CR3) directly or through surface-bound iC3b. Factor H (fH) that binds to bacteria facilitates conversion of C3b to iC3b. fH also binds directly to CR3 on professional phagocytes. Certain nonprofessional phagocytes, such as primary cervical epithelial cells, also express CR3. We hypothesized that fH could bridge bacteria to CR3 and fa...