title: Pig complement regulator factor H: molecular cloning and functional characterization.
abstract: Complement is an efficient defense mechanism of innate immunity. Factor H is the central complement regulator of the alternative pathway, acting in the fluid-phase and on self surfaces. Pigs are considered a suitable source for xenotransplantation and thus several membrane-bound pig complement regulators with importance for the acute rejection phase have been investigated. However, pig fluid-phase regulators have not been described so far. We report the cloning, expression and functional characterization of pig factor H. After constructing a pig liver cDNA library, a full-length factor H cDNA was isolated and sequenced. The predicted protein is organized in 20 short consensus repeat (SCR) domains and has an overall identity of 62% to the human protein. For functional characterization, three deletion constructs of pig factor H were expressed in insect cells. Pig factor H construct SCR 1-4 has cofactor activity for factor I-mediated cleavage of human C3b, which is similar to the human regulator. In addition, this N-terminal construct binds to human C3b, while a construct consisting of SCR 15-20 showed a weaker binding to human C3b/C3d. Pig factor H has two major binding sites for heparin, as the two constructs representing SCR 1-7 and SCR 15-20 proteins, but not the SCR 1-4 protein, bind heparin. The C-terminal construct is able to bind to human endothelial cells, as assayed by FACS. We show that pig and human factor H share functional characteristics in complement regulation and cell surface binding. Possible consequences of using pig livers for xenotransplantation are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003179:Complement C3b / Q000502:physiology; D017242:Complement Factor H / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013552:Swine / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: C493495:CFH protein, human; D003179:Complement C3b; D017242:Complement Factor H