| Structural highlights
Disease
[CO4A_HUMAN] Defects in C4A are the cause of complement component 4A deficiency (C4AD) [MIM:614380]. A rare defect of the complement classical pathway associated with the development of autoimmune disorders, mainly systemic lupus with or without associated glomerulonephritis.[1] Defects in C4A are a cause of susceptibility to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) [MIM:152700]. A chronic, inflammatory and often febrile multisystemic disorder of connective tissue. It affects principally the skin, joints, kidneys and serosal membranes. It is thought to represent a failure of the regulatory mechanisms of the autoimmune system. Note=Interindividual copy-number variation (CNV) of complement component C4 and associated polymorphisms result in different susceptibilities to SLE. The risk of SLE susceptibility has been shown to be significantly increased among subjects with only two copies of total C4. A high copy number is a protective factor against SLE.[2]
Function
[CO4A_HUMAN] C4 plays a central role in the activation of the classical pathway of the complement system. It is processed by activated C1 which removes from the alpha chain the C4a anaphylatoxin. The remaining alpha chain fragment C4b is the major activation product and is an essential subunit of the C3 convertase (C4b2a) and the C5 convertase (C3bC4b2a) enzymes of the classical complement pathway. Derived from proteolytic degradation of complement C4, C4a anaphylatoxin is a mediator of local inflammatory process. It induces the contraction of smooth muscle, increases vascular permeability and causes histamine release from mast cells and basophilic leukocytes.
Publication Abstract from PubMed
An essential aspect of innate immunity is recognition of molecular patterns on the surface of pathogens or altered self through the lectin and classical pathways, two of the three well-established activation pathways of the complement system. This recognition causes activation of the MASP-2 or the C1s serine proteases followed by cleavage of the protein C4. Here we present the crystal structures of the 203-kDa human C4 and the 245-kDa C4MASP-2 substrateenzyme complex. When C4 binds to MASP-2, substantial conformational changes in C4 are induced, and its scissile bond region becomes ordered and inserted into the protease catalytic site in a manner canonical to serine proteases. In MASP-2, an exosite located within the CCP domains recognizes the C4 C345C domain 60 A from the scissile bond. Mutations in C4 and MASP-2 residues at the C345C-CCP interface inhibit the intermolecular interaction and C4 cleavage. The possible assembly of the huge in vivo enzyme-substrate complex consisting of glycan-bound mannan-binding lectin, MASP-2, and C4 is discussed. Our own and prior functional data suggest that C1s in the classical pathway of complement activated by, e.g., antigen-antibody complexes, also recognizes the C4 C345C domain through a CCP exosite. Our results provide a unified structural framework for understanding the early and essential step of C4 cleavage in the elimination of pathogens and altered self through two major pathways of complement activation.
Structural basis for activation of the complement system by component C4 cleavage.,Kidmose RT, Laursen NS, Dobo J, Kjaer TR, Sirotkina S, Yatime L, Sottrup-Jensen L, Thiel S, Gal P, Andersen GR Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Sep 4. PMID:22949645[3]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
See Also
References
- ↑ Barba G, Rittner C, Schneider PM. Genetic basis of human complement C4A deficiency. Detection of a point mutation leading to nonexpression. J Clin Invest. 1993 Apr;91(4):1681-6. PMID:8473511 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/JCI116377
- ↑ Yang Y, Chung EK, Wu YL, Savelli SL, Nagaraja HN, Zhou B, Hebert M, Jones KN, Shu Y, Kitzmiller K, Blanchong CA, McBride KL, Higgins GC, Rennebohm RM, Rice RR, Hackshaw KV, Roubey RA, Grossman JM, Tsao BP, Birmingham DJ, Rovin BH, Hebert LA, Yu CY. Gene copy-number variation and associated polymorphisms of complement component C4 in human systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): low copy number is a risk factor for and high copy number is a protective factor against SLE susceptibility in European Americans. Am J Hum Genet. 2007 Jun;80(6):1037-54. Epub 2007 Apr 26. PMID:17503323 doi:10.1086/518257
- ↑ Kidmose RT, Laursen NS, Dobo J, Kjaer TR, Sirotkina S, Yatime L, Sottrup-Jensen L, Thiel S, Gal P, Andersen GR. Structural basis for activation of the complement system by component C4 cleavage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Sep 4. PMID:22949645 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1208031109
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