How To Test Complement Activation

How to test complement activation?

Over the past two decades, highly specific monoclonal antibodies have been generated that recognize only neoepitopes exposed in the activation product, which enables direct capture of complement activation products by ELISA or high-capacity immunosorbents without the interference of the nonactivated component. A number of complement activation products have been tested by this method, including the classical pathway (C1rs-C1 inhibitors, C4d and C4bc), alternative pathways (Ba, Bb, and C3bBЬP), C3 (C3a, iC3b/C3bc, and C3d) and terminal reactions sequence (C5a and sC5b-9).