Innate Immune System - Complement System

Complement System

The complement system is a biochemical cascade of the immune system that helps, or “complements”, the ability of antibodies to clear pathogens or mark them for destruction by other cells. The cascade is composed of many plasma proteins, synthesised in the liver, primarily by hepatocytes. The proteins work together to:

  • trigger the recruitment of inflammatory cells.
  • "tag" pathogens for destruction by other cells by opsonizing, or coating, the surface of the pathogen.
  • forming holes in the plasma membrane of the pathogen, resulting in cytolysis of the pathogen cell, causing the death of the pathogen.
  • rid the body of neutralised antigen-antibody complexes.

Elements of the complement cascade can be found in many nonmammalian species including plants, birds, fish and some species of invertebrates.

Read more about this topic:  Innate Immune System

Famous quotes containing the words complement and/or system:

    A healthy man, indeed, is the complement of the seasons, and in winter, summer is in his heart.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    I have no concern with any economic criticisms of the communist system; I cannot enquire into whether the abolition of private property is expedient or advantageous. But I am able to recognize that the psychological premises on which the system is based are an untenable illusion. In abolishing private property we deprive the human love of aggression of one of its instruments ... but we have in no way altered the differences in power and influence which are misused by aggressiveness.
    Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)