PhD Seminar – 22nd May 2024 (16.00)
Activation, neutralization, analysis of the complement system and its many faces
Abstract
The complement system, as part of the innate immunity, is important in the inflammatory process, recognizing and eliminating non-self materials, creating and sustaining the correct microenvironment and modulating cell activities. The complexity, the interaction with other systems and the peculiar regulation show its central role in the immune response. The physiological aims of the system are particularly evident in complement-deficient patients, that can be characterized by an increased susceptibility to bacterial infections but also by autoimmune diseases. More recently, the contribution in tumor-progression has been also characterized, the analysis of complement action products has been used as inflammatory markers and its role in antibody-based immunotherapy was established.
The growing interest in the study of the complement system allowed also the development of a number of neutralizing molecules, now present in the clinic, able to selectively target and inhibit one component of the complement cascade, limiting the final activity of the system and reducing the side effects in inflammatory processes.
The complete characterization of the mechanisms of the complement system is far to be completed but the involvement of this system in the different diseases requires to set up methods to evaluate its activation, neutralization and cell interaction in different pathological microenvironments.
