C3b receptor in normal human oral mucosa.
The presence of a receptor for C3b in normal human oral mucosa was studied using C3b produced by treating normal human serum with cobra venom factor. Cryostat sections of normal human oral mucosa were incubated with C3b, followed by a direct immunofluorescence technique using monospecific goat-antihuman C3. The histologic localization of C3b fluorescence was determined by fixing cryostat sections with glutaraldehyde and staining with hematoxylin and eosin. The endothelial cells of the capillaries and smaller venules in the oral mucosa showed staining by anti-C3. C3b did not bind to the intercellular substance nor to the basement membrane zone of normal human oral mucosa. Normal human serum treated with EDTA was negative, thus indicating that native C3 did not bind to the receptor. The endothelial C3b receptor of the oral mucosa may have an important function in the localization of immune complexes that occur in systemic diseases, as well as in diseases restricted to the oral mucosa.
D003176:Complement C3; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000276:immunology*; D011951:Receptors, Complement
D003176:Complement C3; D011951:Receptors, Complement