title: Complement component 5a (C5a).
abstract: The 74 amino acid glycoprotein, complement component 5a (C5a), is a potent pro-inflammatory mediator cleaved enzymatically from its precursor, C5, upon activation of the complement cascade. C5a is quickly metabolised by carboxypeptidases, forming the less potent C5adesArg. Acting via a classical G protein-coupled receptor, CD88, C5a and C5adesArg exert a number of effects essential to the innate immune response, while their actions at the more recently discovered non-G protein-coupled receptor, C5L2 (or GPR77), remain unclear. The widespread expression of C5a receptors throughout the body allows C5a to elicit a broad range of effects. Thus, C5a has been found to be a significant pathogenic driver in a number of immuno-inflammatory diseases, making C5a inhibition an attractive therapeutic strategy.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. h.manthey@uq.edu.au
authors.forename: Helga D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Manthey
authors.forename: Trent M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Woodruff
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Peter N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Monk
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015936:Complement C5a / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D015936:Complement C5a