Home LiteratureArticle Details
PMID: 540031 Published · ppublish English Journal Article

The isolation and characterization of bovine C4a, an activation fragment of the fourth component of complement.

The Biochemical journal ·Vol. 183 ·No. 3 ·1979-12-01 ·Pages 573-8

Booth NA, Campbell RD, Smith MA, Fothergill JE

Abstract

The fourth component of bovine complement, C4, was cleaved specifically by subcomponent C1s to produce two fragments, C4a and C4b. The smaller, C4a, was isolated in pure form and is a peptide of 9500 mol.wt. containing approx. 84 amino acids and no detectable carbohydrate. C4a has an amino acid composition that is comparable with the anaphylatoxins C3a and C5a, containing six cysteine residues/mol and a high proportion of basic residues. The amino acid sequence of the first thirteen residues shows four identities with the porcine C3a sequence. There is almost complete identity between the C4a sequence and that of the alpha-chain of human C4, indicating that this region is highly conserved. This evidence also clearly establishes that C4a is cleaved from the N-terminal of the alpha-chain of C4.

MeSH Terms
Amino Acid Sequence Amino Acids/blood Animals Carbohydrates/blood Cattle Complement Activation Complement C1 Complement C4/isolation & purification Humans Molecular Weight Peptide Fragments/blood,isolation & purification
Chemicals
Amino Acids Carbohydrates Complement C1 Complement C4 Peptide Fragments
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Booth N A
Campbell R D
Smith M A
Fothergill J E
References (35)
35 references, click to expand
  1. Purification and structural analysis of the fourth component of human complement.
    Biochemistry. 1977 May 3;16(9):2008-15 PMID: 322709
  2. Observations on a pro-esterase associated with partially purified first component of human complement (C'1).
    Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1956 May;92(1):32-7 PMID: 13336065
  3. Aminopropyl glass and its p-phenylene diisothiocyanate derivative, a new support in solid-phase Edman degradation of peptides and proteins.
    FEBS Lett. 1973 Sep 1;35(1):97-102 PMID: 4356495
  4. ISOLATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE FOURTH COMPONENT OF HUMAN COMPLEMENT.
    J Exp Med. 1963 Sep 1;118:447-66 PMID: 14078003
  5. The derivation of two distinct anaphylatoxin activities from the third and fifth components of human complement.
    J Exp Med. 1968 Feb 1;127(2):371-86 PMID: 4383923
  6. A molecular approach to the complement system.
    Curr Top Cell Regul. 1978;13:259-311 PMID: 352622
  7. The primary structure of porcine C3a anaphylatoxin.
    J Immunol. 1976 Sep;117(3):990-5 PMID: 956663
  8. Formation of C3a and C5a anaphylatoxins in whole human serum after inhibition of the anaphylatoxin inactivator.
    J Exp Med. 1973 May 1;137(5):1109-23 PMID: 4121926
  9. Purification and partial characterization of human and porcine C3a anaphylatoxin.
    J Biol Chem. 1975 Feb 25;250(4):1472-8 PMID: 803505
  10. Cleavage of the fourth component of human complement (C4) by activated Cls.
    Immunochemistry. 1970 Feb;7(2):217-25 PMID: 5462587
  11. Isolation of a fragment (C3a) of the third component of human complement containing anaphylatoxin and chemotactic activity and description of an anaphylatoxin inactivator of human serum.
    J Exp Med. 1969 May 1;129(5):1109-30 PMID: 5778786
  12. The purification and characterization of bovine C4, the fourth component of complement.
    Biochem J. 1979 Mar 1;177(3):959-65 PMID: 312644
  13. C'1 ESTERASE EFFECT ON ACTIVITY AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE FOURTH COMPONENT OF COMPLEMENT.
    J Exp Med. 1965 May 1;121:819-33 PMID: 14280442
  14. Disk electrophoresis of basic proteins and peptides on polyacrylamide gels.
    Nature. 1962 Jul 21;195:281-3 PMID: 14491328
  15. The biochemistry of complement.
    Nature. 1978 Oct 26;275(5682):699-704 PMID: 703835
  16. Fourth component of human complement: description of a three polypeptide chain structure.
    J Exp Med. 1974 Nov 1;140(5):1324-35 PMID: 4424566
  17. Solid phase sequencing: a new support for the high sensitivity degradation of peptides and proteins.
    FEBS Lett. 1975 Feb 1;50(2):159-62 PMID: 1167528
  18. Measurement of molecular weights by electrophoresis on SDS-acrylamide gel.
    Methods Enzymol. 1972;26:3-27 PMID: 4680711
  19. Primary structural analysis of the polypeptide portion of human C5a anaphylatoxin. Polypeptide sequence determination and assignment of the oligosaccharide attachment site in C5a.
    J Biol Chem. 1978 Oct 10;253(19):6955-64 PMID: 690134
  20. The isolation and structure of C4, the fourth component of human complement.
    Biochem J. 1977 Sep 1;165(3):439-46 PMID: 921758
  21. The preparation and enzymatic hydrolysis of reduced and S-carboxymethylated proteins.
    J Biol Chem. 1963 Feb;238:622-7 PMID: 14023808
  22. Physicochemical and functional characterization of the C1r subunit of the first complement component.
    J Immunol. 1976 Feb;116(2):496-503 PMID: 814163
  23. Cleavage of the fourth component of human complement (C4) by C1 esterase: isolation and characteristics of the low molecular weight product.
    Immunochemistry. 1970 Feb;7(2):227-34 PMID: 5442809
  24. Solid-phase Edman degradation. The use of p-phenyl diisothiocyanate to attach lysine- and arginine-containing peptides to insoluble resins.
    FEBS Lett. 1972 Mar;21(1):67-70 PMID: 11946477
  25. STUDIES ON HUMAN C'1-ESTERASE. II. FUNCTION OF PURIFIED C'1-ESTERASE IN THE HUMAN COMPLEMENT SYSTEM.
    J Immunol. 1964 Mar;92:468-78 PMID: 14131465
  26. A fragment of the third component of human complement with anaphylatoxin activity.
    Biochemistry. 1971 Mar 30;10(7):1166-72 PMID: 5553323
  27. Anaphylatoxins: C3a and C5a.
    Adv Immunol. 1978;26:1-53 PMID: 358800
  28. The purification and characterization of subcomponent C1s of the first component of bovine complement.
    Biochem J. 1979 Dec 1;183(3):579-88 PMID: 540032
  29. Purification and characterization of subcomponent C1q of the first component of bovine complement.
    Biochem J. 1979 Feb 1;177(2):531-40 PMID: 219845
  30. Partial characterization of human C5a anaphylatoxin. I. Chemical description of the carbohydrate and polypeptide prtions of human C5a.
    J Immunol. 1976 Nov;117(5 Pt 1):1688-94 PMID: 1002996
  31. Circular dichroism of C3a anaphylatoxin. Effects of pH, heat, guanidinium chloride, and mercaptoethanol on conformation and function.
    J Biol Chem. 1975 Feb 25;250(4):1479-83 PMID: 234458
  32. Human anaphylatoxin (C3a) from the third component of complement. Primary structure.
    J Biol Chem. 1975 Nov 10;250(21):8293-301 PMID: 1238393
  33. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent.
    J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265-75 PMID: 14907713
  34. Solid-phase Edman degradation. An automatic peptide sequencer.
    Eur J Biochem. 1971 May 11;20(1):89-102 PMID: 5578618
  35. N-terminal amino acid sequences of variant-specific surface antigens from Trypanosoma brucei.
    Nature. 1976 Oct 14;263(5578):613-4 PMID: 980109
Article Info
Journal
The Biochemical journal
Abbr.
Biochem J
ISSN
0264-6021
DOI
10.1042/bj1830573
Published
1979-12-01
Pages
573-8
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
2984726R
PMCID
PMC1161638
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1042/bj1830573 PMC Full Text View journal details
Analysis Services
Analysis Services

Contact

No. 2 Wenbo Road, Zhangqiu District, Jinan, Shandong

Qilu Normal University · Genelibs Bioinformatics Lab

750 Shunhua Rd, Jinan

2F, Bldg F, University Science Park

Tel: 0531-88819269

WeChat Official Account

Follow our WeChat subscription account for real-time updates and the latest in medical and biological research.


Business Email

E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright © 2026.Genelibs Jinan Honghui Biotechnology Co., Ltd. 鲁ICP备20007159号-2