Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1-3
pubmed:dateCreated
1999-9-15
pubmed:abstractText
The complement system in higher vertebrates is composed of about thirty proteins that function in three activation cascades and converge in a single terminal pathway. It is believed that these cascades, as they function in the higher vertebrates, evolved from a few ancestral genes through a combination of gene duplications and divergences plus pathway duplication (perhaps as a result of genome duplication). Evidence of this evolutionary history is based on sequence analysis of complement components from animals in the vertebrate lineage. There are fewer components and reduced or absent pathways in lower vertebrates compared to mammals. Modern examples of the putatively ancestral complement system have been identified in sea urchins and tunicates, members of the echinoderm phylum and the protochordate subphylum, which are sister groups to the vertebrates. Thus far, this simpler system is composed of homologues of C3, factor B, and mannose binding protein associated serine protease suggesting the presence of simpler alternative and lectin pathways. Additional components are predicted to be present. A complete analysis of this invertebrate defense system, which evolved before the invention of rearranging genes, will provide keys to the primitive beginnings of innate immunity in the deuterostome lineage of animals.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0162-3109
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
42
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
107-20
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1999
pubmed:articleTitle
Complement systems in invertebrates. The ancient alternative and lectin pathways.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Biological Sciences and Institute of Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program in Genetics, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study, Review