Heparan sulfate, including that in Bruch's membrane, inhibits the complement alternative pathway: implications for age-related macular degeneration.

ABSTRACT: An imbalance between activation and inhibition of the complement system has been implicated in the etiologies of numerous common diseases. Allotypic variants of a key complement fluid-phase regulatory protein, complement factor H (CFH), are strongly associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of worldwide visual dysfunction, although its specific role in AMD pathogenesis is still not clear. CFH was isolated from individuals carrying combinations of two of the nonsynonymous coding variants most strongly associated with AMD risk, V62/H402 (risk haplotype variants), I62/Y402 (nonrisk haplotype variants), and V62/Y402. These proteins were used in two functional assays (cell surface- and fluid-phase-based) measuring cofactor activity of CFH in the factor I-mediated c

SUBMITTER: Kelly U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3639479 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature