Dataset Information

Quantitative Modeling of the Alternative Pathway of the Complement System.

ABSTRACT: The complement system is an integral part of innate immunity that detects and eliminates invading pathogens through a cascade of reactions. The destructive effects of the complement activation on host cells are inhibited through versatile regulators that are present in plasma and bound to membranes. Impairment in the capacity of these regulators to function in the proper manner results in autoimmune diseases. To better understand the delicate balance between complement activation and regulation, we have developed a comprehensive quantitative model of the alternative pathway. Our model incorporates a system of ordinary differential equations that describes the dynamics of the four steps of the alternative pathway under physiological conditions: (i) initiation (fluid phase), (ii) amplification (surfaces), (iii) termination (pathogen), and (iv) regulation (host cell and fluid phase). We have examined complement activation and regulation on different surfaces, using the cellular dimensions of a characteristic bacterium (E. coli) and host cell (human erythrocyte). In addition, we have incorporated neutrophil-secreted properdin into the model highlighting the cross talk of neutrophils with the alternative pathway in coordinating innate immunity. Our study yields a series of time-dependent response data for all alternative pathway proteins, fragments, and complexes. We demonstrate the robustness of alternative pathway on the surface of pathogens in which complement components were able to saturate the entire region in about 54 minutes, while occupying less than one percent on host cells at the same time period. Our model reveals that tight regulation of complement starts in fluid phase in which propagation of the alternative pathway was inhibited through the dismantlement of fluid phase convertases. Our model also depicts the intricate role that properdin released from neutrophils plays in initiating and propagating the alternative pathway during bacterial infection.

SUBMITTER: Zewde N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4816337 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Quantitative Modeling of the Alternative Pathway of the Complement System.

Zewde Nehemiah N Gorham Ronald D RD Dorado Angel A Morikis Dimitrios D

PloS one 20160331 3

The complement system is an integral part of innate immunity that detects and eliminates invading pathogens through a cascade of reactions. The destructive effects of the complement activation on host cells are inhibited through versatile regulators that are present in plasma and bound to membranes. Impairment in the capacity of these regulators to function in the proper manner results in autoimmune diseases. To better understand the delicate balance between complement activation and regulation, ...[more]

PMID: 27031863

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Project description:Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is increasingly associated with inflammation, a phenotype that persists despite treatment with lipid lowering therapies. The alternative C3 complement system (C3), as a key inflammatory mediator, seems to be involved in the atherosclerotic process; however, the relationship between C3 and lipids during plaque progression remains unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate by a systems biology approach the role of C3 in relation to lipoprotein levels during atherosclerosis (AT) progression and to gain a better understanding on the effects of C3 products on the phenotype and function of human lipid-loaded vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). By mass spectrometry and differential proteomics, we found the extracellular matrix (ECM) of human aortas to be enriched in active components of the C3 complement system, with a significantly different proteomic signature in AT segments. Thus, C3 products were more abundant in AT-ECM than in macroscopically normal segments. Furthermore, circulating C3 levels were significantly elevated in FH patients with subclinical coronary AT, evidenced by computed tomographic angiography. However, no correlation was identified between circulating C3 levels and the increase in plaque burden, indicating a local regulation of the C3 in AT arteries. In cell culture studies of human VSMCs, we evidenced the expression of C3, C3aR (anaphylatoxin receptor) and the integrin αMβ2 receptor for C3b/iC3b (RT-PCR and Western blot). C3mRNA was up-regulated in lipid-loaded human VSMCs, and C3 protein significantly increased in cell culture supernatants, indicating that the C3 products in the AT-ECM have a local vessel-wall niche. Interestingly, C3a and iC3b (C3 active fragments) have functional effects on VSMCs, significantly reversing the inhibition of VSMC migration induced by aggregated LDL and stimulating cell spreading, organization of F-actin stress fibers and attachment during the adhesion of lipid-loaded human VSMCs. This study, by using a systems biology approach, identified molecular processes involving the C3 complement system in vascular remodeling and in the progression of advanced human atherosclerotic lesions.

Project description:The innate immune system plays a major role in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Recently we reported complement activation in human NASH. However, it remained unclear whether the alternative pathway of complement, which amplifies C3 activation and which is frequently associated with pathological complement activation leading to disease, was involved. Here, alternative pathway components were investigated in liver biopsies of obese subjects with healthy livers (n = 10) or with NASH (n = 12) using quantitative PCR, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence staining. Properdin accumulated in areas where neutrophils surrounded steatotic hepatocytes, and colocalized with the C3 activation product C3c. C3 activation status as expressed by the C3c/native C3 ratio was 2.6-fold higher (p<0.01) in subjects with NASH despite reduced native C3 concentrations (0.94±0.12 vs. 0.57±0.09; p<0.01). Hepatic properdin levels positively correlated with levels of C3c (rs = 0.69; p<0.05) and C3c/C3 activation ratio (rs = 0.59; p<0.05). C3c, C3 activation status (C3c/C3 ratio) and properdin levels increased with higher lobular inflammation scores as determined according to the Kleiner classification (C3c: p<0.01, C3c/C3 ratio: p<0.05, properdin: p<0.05). Hepatic mRNA expression of factor B and factor D did not differ between subjects with healthy livers and subjects with NASH (factor B: 1.00±0.19 vs. 0.71±0.07, p = 0.26; factor D: 1.00±0.21 vs. 0.66±0.14, p = 0.29;). Hepatic mRNA and protein levels of Decay Accelerating Factor tended to be increased in subjects with NASH (mRNA: 1.00±0.14 vs. 2.37±0.72; p = 0.22; protein: 0.51±0.11 vs. 1.97±0.67; p = 0.28). In contrast, factor H mRNA was downregulated in patients with NASH (1.00±0.09 vs. 0.71±0.06; p<0.05) and a similar trend was observed with hepatic protein levels (1.12±0.16 vs. 0.78±0.07; p = 0.08). Collectively, these data suggest a role for alternative pathway activation in driving hepatic inflammation in NASH. Therefore, alternative pathway factors may be considered attractive targets for treating NASH by inhibiting complement activation.

Dataset Information

Quantitative Modeling of the Alternative Pathway of the Complement System.

Publications

Quantitative Modeling of the Alternative Pathway of the Complement System.

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