Functions
- C5a is an anaphylatoxin, causing the release of histamine from mast cells; C5a des-Arg is a much less potent anaphylatoxin.
- Both C5a and C5a des-Arg are effective leukocyte chemoattractants, causing the accumulation of white blood cells, especially neutrophil granulocytes, at sites of complement activation. (See also Chemotaxis#Chemotactic ligands.)
- C5a activates white blood cells by increasing avidity for white blood cell integrins and upregulating the Lipoxygenase pathway for arachidonic acid metabolism.
- C5a is a powerful inflammatory mediator, and seems to be a key factor in the development of pathology of many inflammatory diseases involving the complement system.
- C5a modulates balance between activating versus inhibitory IgG Fc receptors on leukocytes, thereby enhancing autoimmune response.
Read more about this topic: Complement Component 5a
Famous quotes containing the word functions:
“Mark the babe
Not long accustomed to this breathing world;
One that hath barely learned to shape a smile,
Though yet irrational of soul, to grasp
With tiny finger—to let fall a tear;
And, as the heavy cloud of sleep dissolves,
To stretch his limbs, bemocking, as might seem,
The outward functions of intelligent man.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“The English masses are lovable: they are kind, decent, tolerant, practical and not stupid. The tragedy is that there are too many of them, and that they are aimless, having outgrown the servile functions for which they were encouraged to multiply. One day these huge crowds will have to seize power because there will be nothing else for them to do, and yet they neither demand power nor are ready to make use of it; they will learn only to be bored in a new way.”
—Cyril Connolly (1903–1974)
“Those things which now most engage the attention of men, as politics and the daily routine, are, it is true, vital functions of human society, but should be unconsciously performed, like the corresponding functions of the physical body.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)