Insights into the Complement System of Tunicates: C3a/C5aR of the Colonial Ascidian Botryllus schlosseri.

ABSTRACT: As an evolutionary ancient component of the metazoan immune defense toolkit, the complement system can modulate cells and humoral responses of both innate and (in jawed vertebrates) adaptive immunity. All the three known complement-activation pathways converge on the cleavage of C3 to C3a and C3b. The anaphylatoxin C3a behaves as a chemokine in inflammatory responses, whereas C3b exerts an opsonic role and, ultimately, can activate the lytic pathway. C3aR, one of the mammalian receptors for C3a, is a member of the G-protein-coupled receptor family sharing seven transmembrane alpha helixes. C3aR can act as a chemokine and recruit neutrophils, triggering degranulation and respiratory burst, which initiates an inflammatory reaction. Mining the transcriptome of the colonial ascidian Botryll

SUBMITTER: Peronato A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7565592 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature