Studies on the complement-binding site of rabbit immunoglobulin G-11. The reaction of rabbit IgG and its fragments with Clq

Dissociation of IgG antibody-mediated clumps of Trypanosoma brucei gambiense by complement

Aggregated trypanosome masses that had formed in the region of equivalence in the absence of complement were readily dissociated by complement. Complement-mediated dissociation of the clumped trypanosomes in the area of equivalence released approximately 50% of the previously bound surface antigens. These antigens were capable of rebinding to new IgG antibody. Experiments indicated that complement deposition altered the bivalent IgG antibody in the immune complex into a univalent form. The occurrence of such an event in the presence of complement provides a great advantage to the infected host in the killing of pathogens in vivo, as it enables a greater number of antibodies to attach to surface antigens and subsequently initiate complement activity.

Comparison of the role of tyrosine residues in human IgG and rabbit IgG in binding of complement subcomponent C1q

Treatment of covalently cross-linked or heat-aggregated oligomers of human IgG with 4 mM-tetranitromethane abrogated their C1q-binding activity. In contrast, tetranitromethane modification of rabbit IgG oligomers, under identical conditions, had no effect upon their C1q-binding activity. The tetranitromethane treatment led to nitration of about ten tyrosine residues per IgG molecule in both species, and the modification was specific for tyrosine residues. Reduction of the nitrated protein with Na2S2O4 did not lead to recovery of C1q-binding activity in human IgG oligomers or to loss of activity in rabbit IgG oligomers. Tryptic peptides from the nitrated proteins were isolated and a peptide containing nitrotyrosine-319 was recovered from human IgG, as well as peptides from both species corresponding to the region around nitrotyrosine-278. These data are consistent with the inactivation of C1q-binding activity in human IgG being the result of nitration of tyrosine-319; the rabbit IgG is unaffected by nitration because position 319 is phenylalanine. The evidence supports the C1q-receptor site proposed by Burton, Boyd, Brampton, Easterbrook-Smith, Emanuel, Novotny, Rademacher, van Schravendijk, Sternberg & Dwek [(1980) Nature (London) 288, 338-344]: residues 316-338.

The distortive mechanism for the activation of complement component C1 supported by studies with a monoclonal antibody against the "arms" of C1q

A mouse monoclonal antibody (IgG1 isotype) against human C1q (MAb 130) is presented that activates C1 in serum through its antigen-binding sites at an optimal molar ratio of 3 MAbs:1 C1q. The antibody does not inhibit binding of C1q to IgG. Experiments with pepsin- and collagenase-digested C1q showed that MAb 130 binds to the fibril-like strands (arms) of C1q, close to the globular heads. Bivalency of MAb 130 was a requirement for C1-activation, but not for binding to C1q. Increasing the segmental flexibility of the intact antibody by reduction and alkylation destroyed its capacity to activate C1. A MAb against the globular heads of C1q completely inhibited C1-activation by aggregated IgG (AHG), but did not prevent activation by MAb 130. C1, reconstituted by adding C1q-stalks that lack the globular heads to C1q-depleted serum was not activated by AHG, whereas activation by MAb 130 was not affected. Activation of serum-C1 by AHG and MAb 130 was inhibited by addition of excess purified C1-inhibitor in a comparable and dose-dependent manner. Sucrose-gradient analysis indicated a predominance of stable complexes of a single C1q-molecule with three MAbs at the optimal activating ratio. When isolated and added to C1q-depleted serum, these complexes activated C1 efficiently. A mechanism for activation by MAb 130 is proposed that supports the "distortive" model of C1-activation.

Quantitative analysis of the interaction between immune complex and C1q complement subcomponent. The role of interdomain interactions in rabbit IgG in binding of C1q to immune precipitates

A novel method was developed for the analysis of the interaction of large multivalent ligands with surfaces (matrices) to analyse the binding of complement subcomponent C1q to immune precipitates. Our new evaluation method provides quantitative data characteristic of the C1q-immune-complex interaction and of the structure of the immune complex as well. To reveal the functional role of domain-domain interactions in the Fc part of IgG the binding of C1q to different anti-ovalbumin IgG-ovalbumin immune complexes was studied. Immune-complex precipitates composed of rabbit IgG in which the non-covalent or covalent bonds between the heavy chains had been eliminated were used. Non-covalent bonds were abolished by splitting off the CH3 domains, i.e. by using Facb fragments, and the covalent contact was broken by reduction and alkylation of the single inter-heavy-chain disulphide bond. The quantitative analysis of the binding curves provides a dissociation constant (K) of 200 nM for the interaction between C1q and immune precipitate formed from native IgG. Surprisingly, for immune precipitates composed of Facb fragments or IgG in which the inter-heavy-chain disulphide bond had been selectively reduced and alkylated, stronger binding (K = 30 nM) was observed. In this case, however, changes in the structure of the immune-complex matrix were also detected. These structural changes may account for the strengthening of the C1q-immune-complex interaction, which can be strongly influenced by the flexibility and the binding-site pattern of the immune-complex precipitates. These results suggest that domain-domain interactions in the Fc part of IgG affect the segmental mobility of IgG molecules and the spatial arrangement of the immune-complex matrix rather than the affinity of individual C1q-binding sites on IgG.

The presence of histidine residues at or near the C1q binding site of rabbit immunoglobulin G

Treatment of covalently crosslinked rabbit IgG oligomers with diethylpyrocarbonate resulted in the loss of their C1q binding activity. The inactivation was a first-order process with respect to time in the range 0-8 min, and modifier concentration from 0 to 2.39 mM. Hydroxylamine treatment of diethylpyrocarbonate-treated IgG oligomers led to 80% recovery of their C1q binding activity. Diethylpyrocarbonate treatment of IgG oligomers had little effect on their absorbance at 278 nm, but led to an increase in their absorbance at 242 nm. The apparent pKa of the modified residues was 6.91 +/- 0.12. These data are consistent with diethylpyrocarbonate modification of histidine residues leading to loss of C1q binding activity in rabbit IgG oligomers. Modification of four histidine residues per IgG molecule was associated with the loss of C1q binding activity. Thus, there may be two histidine residues at or near the C1q binding sites in the CH2 domains of rabbit IgG.

Co-operative interaction of subcomponents of the first component of complement with IgG: a functional defect of dimeric Facb from rabbit IgG

By following dissociation kinetics of radiolabelled C1q from rabbit IgG antibody-sensitized sheep red blood cells (SRBC) before and after its incorporation in the C1 complex, it was demonstrated that the binding stability is markedly enhanced by the presence of the C1r2-C1s2 subunit of C1 which by itself exhibits no significant binding capacity to immune complexes. The dissociation of C1q was decreased by up to 95%, the extent of decrease being pronounced as the cell surface IgG antibody density increased. However, such a stabilizing effect of C1r2-C1s2 was largely abolished when SRBC sensitized with the dimeric fragment F(acb)2 lacking C gamma 3 was used as the C1 binder, whereas the dissociation rate of uncomplexed C1q from F(acb)2-sensitized cells was similar to that from whole IgG-sensitized cells. It was also shown that, although the C1r2-C1s2 subunit is dissociated selectively from C1 bound to either IgG- or F(acb)2-sensitized cells in the presence of EDTA, it is held on much longer by the former cells than the latter cells. These results were taken to indicate that, although the C1 fixation by immune complexes of IgG is undertaken primarily by the interaction between C1q and the C gamma 2 domain, it is also strengthened by the secondary interaction between the C1r2-C1s2 subunit of C1 and the C gamma 3 domain or a structure which is dependent on the pair of C gamma 3 domains.

Effector functions of a monoclonal aglycosylated mouse IgG2a: binding and activation of complement component C1 and interaction with human monocyte Fc receptor

Aglycosylated monoclonal anti-DNP mouse IgG2a produced in the presence of tunicamycin was compared with the native monoclonal IgG2a with respect to its ability to interact with the first component of complement, C1, and to compete with human IgG for binding to human monocyte Fc receptors. The aglycosylated IgG2a was found to bind subcomponent C1q with an equivalent capacity to the native IgG2a, but the dissociation constant was found to be increased three-fold. When activation of C1 by the glycosylated and aglycosylated IgG2a was compared, the rate of C1 activation by the aglycosylated IgG2a was reduced approximately three-fold. In contrast aglycosylation was accompanied by a large decrease (greater than or equal to 50-fold) in the apparent binding constant of monomeric IgG2a to human monocytes. The data suggest that the aglycosylated IgG2a has a structure which differs in the CH2 domain from the native IgG2a, and that the heterogeneous N-linked oligosaccharides of this monoclonal IgG2a which occur at a conserved position in the CH2 domain play a role in maintaining the integrity of its monocyte-binding site. This lack of monocyte binding may result either from a localized conformational change occurring in a single CH2 domain or from an alteration in the CH2-CH2 cross-domain architecture which is normally structured by a pair of opposing and interacting oligosaccharides. The minimal changes in C1q binding and C1 activation suggest that the oligosaccharides are, at most, indirectly involved in these events.

Inhibition by various peptides of the activation of C1, the first component of complement, and the interaction of C gamma 2 domain of IgG with C1q

Three groups of peptides were synthesized, each of which was proposed to be a part of the C1q binding sites of the C gamma 2 domain of IgG. They were: Trp(277)-Tyr-Val-Asp-Gly (WYVDG), Thr(289)-Lys-Pro-Arg (tuftsin) and Gly(316)-Lys-Glu-Tyr-Lys (GKEYK) or portions of these peptides. Assays included CH50, consumption of serum complement induced by heat-aggregated IgG, C1 hemolysis and an enzyme immunoassay that directly measures interaction between C1q and IgG. Peptides near Gly(316) such as GKEY, GKE or EYK inhibited CH50 and heat-aggregated IgG-induced consumption of serum complement. WYVDG also inhibited CH50, with 50% inhibition at 2.05 mM, which was more than the concentrations of peptides near Gly(316) at 50% inhibition. Tuftsin was only slightly inhibitory in both systems. Results of C1 hemolysis indicated that dipeptides composed of two aromatic amino acids, especially Trp-Tyr, were more inhibitory than dipeptides of which one residue was an aromatic amino acid. Peptides such as EYK, GKEY or GKE were very inhibitory, and tuftsin was far less inhibitory than these peptides in C1 hemolysis. Results of enzyme immunoassay also showed that dipeptides composed of two aromatic amino acids were more inhibitory than dipeptides of which one residue was aromatic amino acid. WYVDG was most inhibitory in enzyme immunoassay, but tuftsin, EYK, GKEY GKE and KE were less effective.

Inhibition of the activation of the first component of complement, C1, by various amino acids or peptides

The effects of various amino acids (or their analogues) and peptides on the activation or consumption of human complement by erythrocytes bound with hemolysin or heat-aggregated immunoglobulin G (aggIgG) were studied by using the hemolysis of hemolysin-bound erythrocytes, the consumption of complement by aggIgG in the serum, the hydrolysis of acetyl tyrosine ethyl ester by activated Cl (Cls), Cl hemolysis and a newly developed enzyme immunoassay, which directly measures interaction between Clq and aggIgG. Amino acids or peptides which were proposed to comprise Clq binding sites of the C2 region of IgG or their analogues were used. CH50 was inhibited by lysine or arginine to the largest extent, but other amino acids, including tranexamic acid and epsilon-amino caproic acid were not inhibitory up to 60 mM. The consumption of serum complement by aggIgG was prevented by arginine or lysine (about 60% inhibition at 60 mM) and by histidine to a lesser extent. The activation of Cls in the Cl complex by aggIgG precipitated at pH 5.5 was most inhibited by lysine, and to a lesser extent by tranexamic acid, arginine and epsilon-aminocaproic acid, but not glutamic acid or glycine. The results of Cl hemolysis indicated that, of all amino acids soluble at neutral pH, lysine and arginine were most effective in the inhibition of Cl hemolysis. Tranexamic acid and epsilon-aminocaproic acid were less effective, and glycine and norleucine were hardly effective. Among the dipeptides used, those that are composed of aromatic amino acids were very effective in the inhibition of Cl hemolysis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Binding of complement subcomponent C1q to mouse IgG1, IgG2a and IgG2b: a novel C1q binding assay

A C1q binding assay is presented which is suitable for use in comparison of the binding ability of different antibodies, and which allows the quantitative determination of their binding constants. The assay system uses IgG bound to a hapten-derivatized Affigel support. No non-specific binding is observed to a DNP-derivatized support, allowing the use of anti-DNP antibodies. With mouse anti-DNP hybridoma IgGs it was found that C1q binding followed the series IgG2a greater than IgG2b much greater than IgG1, in accordance with the complement fixing ability of these subclasses. Since it is relatively simple to couple any antigen to Affigel , this assay system should be generally applicable to any antibody-antigen system.

The first component of human complement (C1): activation and control

The first component of human complement (C1) is a 750 000 dalton glycoprotein that requires calcium or other specific metal ions to maintain its native structure and function. Under physiologic conditions, C1 comprises two weakly interacting subunits, C1q and C1r2s2, with C1q containing the binding site(s) for activators and C1r2s2 possessing enzymatic potential. C1 circulates in a precursor state and only after "activation" does it acquire functional activity, manifested as enzymatic activity specific for its natural substrates C2 and C4. C1 activation, which is accompanied by limited proteolysis and conformational changes, can be induced by immune complexes or certain nonimmune substances. With C1 binding to an immune complex, the strength of interaction between C1q and C1r2s2 increases. C1 also spontaneously activates at 37 degrees C by an intramolecular autocatalytic mechanism although at a slower rate than that induced by activators. C1 functions are controlled by the serum glycoprotein C1-inhibitor (C1-In) which blocks the enzymatic activities of activated C1 (C1). Under physiologic conditions, C1 has a half-life of only 13 seconds in the presence of C1-In. C1 is efficiently disassembled by C1-In, thereby releasing two inactive C1rC1s(C1-In)2 complexes per C1 molecule, leaving C1q activator-bound with biologically reactive sites uncovered that are not expressed in macromolecular C1. The most recently recognized function of C1-In is that of controlling the C1 activation process itself. While having only limited effect on immune complex-induced C1 activation, C1-In effectively controls certain nonimmune-induced as well as spontaneous C1 activation. Thus C1-In plays an important role in regulating nonspecific complement activation. The latter observation is relevant for the understanding of the human disease hereditary angioedema. An overabundance of spontaneous C1 autoactivation, due to low C1-In levels, might underlie the abnormal activation of complement via the classical pathway detected in the sera of these patients. Finally, recent studies indicate that C1 may have other important biologic functions in addition to initiating the complement cascade.

Evidence for histidine residues in the immunoglobulin-binding site of human Clq

The immunoglobulin-binding activity of subcomponent Clq of human complement is lost following treatment with diethylpyrocarbonate; the inactivation showed first-order kinetics with respect to time and modifier concentration. Soluble IgG oligomers protected Clq against diethylpyrocarbonate modification. Treatment of modified Clq with hydroxylamine resulted in an 85% recovery of its ability to bind to aggregated immunoglobulin. The inactivation process was associated with modification of 12.1 +/- 0.7 histidine residues per Clq molecule. These data are consistent with the presence of histidine residues in the immunoglobulin-binding sites of Clq; these residues may participate in ionic interactions with the carboxyl groups known to be in the Clq binding site of IgG.

Formation of complement subcomponent C1q-immunoglobulin G complex. Thermodynamic and chemical-modification studies

The interaction between the complement subcomponent C1q and immunoglobulin G was investigated under a variety of experimental conditions. Formation of the subcomponent C1q--immunoglobulin G complex was shown to be an equilibrium process. Thermodynamic studies of the effect of varying the ionic strength indicate that over the salt range 0.15--0.225 M-NaCl the binding of subcomponent C1q to immunoglobulin aggregates releases 9--12 salt ions (Na+ and/or Cl-), illustrating the importance of ionic interactions for the formation of the complex. The effects of small peptide and organic ion inhibitors support this conclusion. Chemical modifications of carboxylate residues on immunoglobulin G by glycine ethyl ester/water-soluble carbodi-imide (up to 12 residues modified per whole molecule of immunoglobulin G) and of lysine residues by acetic anhydride (3 residues per whole molecule of immunoglobulin G) or methyl acetimidate (19 residues per whole molecule of immunoglobulin G) lowered the binding affinity of immunoglobulin for subcomponent C1q. Modification of arginine residues by cyclohexane-1,2-dione-1,2 (14 residues per whole molecule of immunoglobulin G) and of tryptophan by hydroxynitrobenzyl bromide (2 residues per whole molecule of immunoglobulin G), however, had little or no effect. The results are consistent with the proposal that the subcomponent-C1q-binding site on immunoglobulin G is to be found on the last two beta-strands of the Cv2 domain [Burton, Boyd, Brampton, Easterbrook-Smith, Emanuel, Novotny, Rademacher, van Schravendijk, Sternberg & Dwek (1980) Nature (London) 288, 338--344].

Isolation and purification of human C1q from plasma

C1q was purified to homogeneity from human plasma by a 3-step purification procedure. Plasma was euglobulin precipitated, and the redissolved precipitate chromatographed on a rabbit IgG-Sepharose column. The 1 M NaCl buffer eluate was passed directly through a rabbit anti-human IgG-Sepharose affinity column. C1q freed of IgG was present in the flow through. The rationale for this scheme to remove IgG free and that bound to C1q is discussed. Overall recovery of C1q was about 40% with IgG less than 4 microgram/mg C1q. In SDS-polyacrylamide electrophoresis with non-reducing conditions bands at 52,000 and 42,000 daltons were demonstrated while with reducing conditions bands at 26,000, 24,000 and 20,000 daltons were found as reported by others. C1q was found to be stable at 4 degrees C for 1 year in a 1 M NaCl, 0.4 M Tris, 10% sucrose, 0.005 M EDTA, 0.02% NaN3, pH 8.6 buffer.

Soluble immune complexes in human disease

The great variety in biochemical properties of immune complexes occurring in human and animal disease states has made the detection of such complexes a difficult task. Variability in immune complex size, specificity, and interaction with humoral or cellular receptor systems, such as complement and phagocytes, suggests different pathogenic properties. The introduction of radioimmunoassays and the recently improved knowledge of the immune complex-receptor interactions have lead to the description of a large number of detection procedures, which in turn has widened the catalogue of diseases associated with immune complexes. This widespread occurrence of soluble immune complexes has lead many investigators to think that such complexes may occur either as a transient physiological phenomenon, important for fast clearance of the antigen, or as primary pathogenic factors triggering inflammatory reactions. Among the 50 procedures for immune complex detection known today, the article will select some pertinent tests, which will be discussed with respect to their specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility. Furthermore, it is well known that when applied to the study of a patient group with one particular immune complex disease, various tests will result in different percentages of patients having complexes. This observation is due to differences in the underlying principle on which the various tests are based. Thus immune complexes must be further characterized with respect to their size, to the antibody class or specificity involved and, most difficult, to the antigenic specificity which participates in the complex. Recent advances in such experimental characterization of immune complexes in vitro and in the clinical evaluation of patients with complement activation associated to the presence of immune complexes will be discussed.

Activation of the classical and alternative pathways of complement fixation by immune complexes containing normal and tryptophan-modified immunoglobulin G

Koshland's reagent (2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide (NBB)) has been shown to modify tryptophanyl residues in anti-ovalbumin IgG. As little as 2 moles NBB/mole IgG antibody are sufficient to block the classical pathway of complement activation when the antibody is complexed to antigen (ovalbumin). In contrast, immune complexes containing antibody with the same degree of tryptophanyl substitution will activate the alternative pathway of complement fixation. Immune complexes containing F(ab')2 fragments derived from anti-ovalbumin IgG do not activate the classical pathway. When measuring the percentage activation of C3 using the method of Laurell, NBB does not affect the alternative pathway of the complement system up to a molar ratio of 2 NBB/F(ab')2. The above findings, provide a means to evaluate the relative contribution of complement activation by the different pathways.

Complement fixing site of human IgG1

A number of chemical modifications were made to purified human IgG1. The effects of these modifications on the complement activity of the immunoglobulin were studied using aggregation on latex and measuring the consumption of the complement by CH50-quantitation. Tryptophan and tyrosine are implicated in the complement fixing site of this human immunoglobulin, and an arginine moiety probably provides a binding site for the complement.

Human myeloma IgG half-molecules. Catabolism and biological properties

A human IgG1 myeloma protein that has a delection in the third constant domain of the heavy chain (Cgamma3) and forms two-chain half-molecules was studied for its in vivo turnover and its ability to fix C1q and hemolytic complement, to bind to human lymphocytes, neutrophils, and monocytes, and to induce a passive cutaneous reaction in guinea pigs. In both man and monkeys, the half-molecule was rapidly catabolized and in part excreted into the urine. The half-life in man was 4.3 days and the fractional turnover 165% per day; 7.6% of the intravascular pool was excreted into the urine per day. Although the 7S four-chain myeloma protein could not be obtained in a pure form, the elimination from the serum of a partially purified preparation suggested that it was also rapidly catabolized. The unaggregated half-molecule neither formed complexes with C1q, cound to human lymphocytes, neutrophils, and monocytes, nor elicited a reverse passive cutaneous reaction in guinea pigs. In contrast, the aggregated half-molecule fixed hemolytic complement and bound to the human white cells similarly to an intact IgG1 myeloma protein. In order to explain the biological activities of this half-moleculr, it is postulated that IgG1 may have several (at least two) submolecular sites for a given biological activity that are localized on both the Cgamma2 and Cgamma3 domains. Proteins having both sites would be capable of binding to C1q and Fc cell receptors in unaggregated in order to obtain half-molecule, must be aggregated in order to obtain this binding.