A functional C5a anaphylatoxin receptor in a teleost species.

The anaphylatoxins are potent, complement-derived low m.w. proteins that bind to specific seven-transmembrane receptors to elicit and amplify a variety of inflammatory reactions. C5a is the most potent of these phlogistic peptides and is a strong chemoattractant for neutrophils and macrophages/monocytes. Although lower vertebrates possess complement systems that are believed to function similarly to those of mammals, anaphylatoxin receptors have not previously been characterized in any nonmammalian vertebrate. To study the functions of C5a in teleost fish, we generated recombinant C5a of the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (tC5a), and used fluoresceinated tC5a (tC5aF) and flow cytometry to identify the C5a receptor (C5aR) on trout leukocytes. Granulocytes/Macrophages present in cell suspensions of the head kidney (HKL), the main hemopoietic organ in teleosts, showed a univariate type of receptor expression, whereas those from the peripheral blood demonstrated either a low or high level of expression. The binding of tC5aF was inhibited by excess amounts of unlabeled tC5a or tC5a(desArg), demonstrating that sites other than the C-terminal of tC5a interact with the C5aR. Both tC5a and tC5a(desArg) were able to induce chemotactic responses in granulocytes in a concentration-dependent manner, but the desArg derivative was at least 10-fold less active. Homologous desensitization occurred after HKL were exposed to continuous or high concentrations of tC5a, with a loss of tC5aF binding and an 80% reduction in chemotactic responses toward tC5a. Pertussis toxin reduced the migration of HKL toward tC5a by 40%, suggesting only a partial involvement of pertussis toxin-sensitive G(i) proteins in tC5a-mediated chemotaxis.

C5a and C5a(desArg) enhance the susceptibility of monocyte-derived macrophages to HIV infection.

Mononuclear phagocytes, which include circulating blood monocytes and differentiated tissue macrophages, are believed to play a central role in the sexual transmission of HIV infection. The ability of HIV to productively infect these cells may be influenced by action of exogenous or host-derived substances at the site of viral entry. Given the potent capacities of inflammatory mediators to stimulate anaphylatoxic and immunomodulatory functions in mucosa, the effects of complement-derived anaphylatoxins on the susceptibility of monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) to HIV-1 infection were examined. In our in vitro system, the susceptibility to infection was up to 40 times increased in MDM that had been exposed to C5a or C5a(desArg), but not to C3a or C3a(desArg), for 2 days before adding of virus. By contrast, the treatment with complement anaphylatoxins did not affect HIV replication in fresh monocytes. Stimulatory effect of C5a and its desArg derivative on HIV infection correlated with the increase of TNF-alpha and IL-6 secretion from MDM. All these functional effects of C5a and C5a(desArg) were reversible by treatment of cells with the mAb that functionally blocks C5aR. Taken together, these results indicate that C5a and C5a(desArg) may increase the susceptibility of MDM to HIV infection through stimulation of TNF-alpha and IL-6 secretion from these cells.

Receptor activation by human C5a des Arg74 but not intact C5a is dependent on an interaction between Glu199 of the receptor and Lys68 of the ligand.

Despite the expression of only one type of receptor, there is great variation in the ability of different cell types to discriminate between C5a and its more stable metabolite, C5a des Arg74. The mechanism that underlies this phenomenon is not understood but presumably involves differences in the interaction with the C5a receptor. In this paper, we have analyzed the effects of a substitution mutation of the receptor (Glu199 --> Lys199) and the corresponding reciprocal mutants (Lys68 --> Glu68) of C5a, C5a des Arg74 and peptide analogues of the C-terminus of C5a on the ability of the C5a receptor to discriminate between ligands with and without Arg74. The use of these mutants indicates that the Lys68/Glu199 interaction is essential for activation of receptor by C5a des Arg74 but not for activation by intact C5a. The substitution of Asp for Arg74 of C5a [Lys68] produces a ligand with equal potency on both the wild-type and mutant receptors, suggesting that it is the C-terminal carboxyl group rather than the side chain of Arg74 that controls the responsiveness of the receptor to Lys68. In contrast, the mutation of Lys68 to Glu(68) has little effect on the ability of either C5a or C5a des Arg(74) to displace [(125)I]C5a from the receptors, indicating that binding of ligand and receptor activation are distinct but interdependent events. C5a and the truncated ligand, C5a des Arg74, appear to have different modes of interaction with the receptor and the ability of the human C5a receptor to discriminate between these ligands is at least partly dependent on an interaction with the receptor residue, Glu199.

The human mast cell line HMC-1 expresses C5a receptors and responds to C5a but not to C5a(desArg).

The expression of the receptor for the anaphylatoxin C5a (C5aR, CD88) on the human mast cell line HMC-1 was studied with four anti-C5aR monoclonal antibodies directed to the N-terminal domain of the receptor. All antibodies bound to the human mast cell line HMC-1. The binding could be blocked by recombinant C5a and by peptide EX-1 representing amino residues 1-31 on the N-terminal domain of the C5aR. In addition, FITC-labelled C5a bound to HMC-1, and this binding could be blocked by unlabelled C5a or C5aR antibodies. C5aR-specific mRNA was detected in HMC-1 cells by RT-PCR which confirmed the expression of the C5aR gene made by these cells. Lymphocyte-conditioned medium, interferon-gamma or phorbol esters which have been shown to induce a down-regulation of C5aR on myeloid cells did not influence the expression of C5aR on HMC-1. C5a led to a transient mobilization of intracellular calcium in HMC-1 which could be inhibited by pre incubation of C5a with a C5a-specific antibody. In contrast to findings with granulocytes, HMC-1 did not respond to C5a(desArg), confirming previous findings with human skin mast cells. The findings show that (i) although HMC-1 differ from granulocytes in their responsiveness to C5a(desArg), they express similar C5aR and (ii) HMC-1 cells resemble skin mast cells in the expression and function of C5aR and may therefore serve as a model in future studies addressing the biology of this anaphylatoxin receptor on skin mast cells.

The degradation product of the C5a anaphylatoxin C5adesarg retains basophil-activating properties.

The complement cleavage product C5a is a potent agonist of different leukocyte types and also has anaphylatoxic properties through the release of mediators by basophils and tissue mast cells. C5a is very rapidly degraded by serum carboxypeptidase N which cleaves the functionally important carboxy-terminal arginine, generating C5desarg, a chemotactic agonist with little mast cell-activating ability. Here we show that natural human C5adesarg is still a trigger for basophil mediator release superior to other endogenous IgE-independent agonists such as monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1, interleukin (IL)-8, C3a and platelet-activating factor. On a molar basis C5adesarg is only one order of magnitude less potent and about half as efficacious as C5a at inducing basophil degranulation. Priming of basophils with either IL-3, IL-5, granulocyte-macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or nerve growth factor (NGF) (with comparable efficacies, but different potencies: IL-3 > NGF > IL-5 > GM-CSF) enhanced histamine release and conditioned the cells to produce large amounts of leukotriene C4 (LTC4), which is not generated by basophils exposed to C5adesarg alone. The efficacy of C5a and C5adesarg at inducing histamine and LTC4 release by primed basophils was similar. Thus, C5adesarg is a stable inducer of release of inflammatory mediators by human basophils, particularly in primed cells, and complement may, therefore, play a role in immediate-type hypersensitivity diseases in allergic late-phase reactions.

Formation of mixed aggregates of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and platelets by C5a-desArg.

Human blood platelets are not aggregated by C5a-desArg. They are brought to aggregation, however, when human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) are present in the platelet suspension. Then, mixed aggregates form upon activation with C5a-desArg. The platelets do not adhere only to PMN but also stick to each other, indicating that they are activated. This is also evident from their morphology which shows pseudopod formation. The formation of mixed aggregates requires the presence of Ca2+ and Mg2+, it does not occur at temperatures below 20 degrees C. The results suggest that the platelets are activated indirectly, by a mediator released from the PMN upon stimulation with C5a-desArg. When mixed with platelets, PMN partially aggregate already upon addition of Ca2+. This effect is not seen in pure PMN suspensions. C5a-desArg causes additional aggregation which includes the platelets. The indirectly stimulated platelets in turn enhance the aggregation of the PMN in the mixtures incubated with C5a-desArg. This may cause a positive feedback.

C5a/C5ades-Arg-induced increase in blood pressure in the guinea pig: role of thromboxane.

Cleavage of the complement protein C5 by activation of the complement system yields a low molecular weight fragment C5a. Knowledge of the alterations in blood pressure induced by C5a as well as the mediators responsible for the blood pressure changes may provide information concerning the potential role of C5a in the adverse hemodynamic responses associated with complement activation. The purpose of this study was to characterize changes in mean arterial pressure in the guinea pig after intravenous challenge with a combination of guinea pig C5a plus C5a(des-Arg) (C5a/C5a(des-Arg)) and determine the mediators responsible for the transient increase in blood pressure which was observed. Mean arterial pressure was monitored in mechanically ventilated pentobarbital-anesthetized guinea pigs. Intravenous injection of C5a/C5a(des-Arg) consistently caused a marked but transient rise in blood pressure. A transient hypotensive response was also seen with injection of markedly higher doses of guinea pig C5a/C5a(des-Arg). Various pharmacological antagonists were used to determine the mediators responsible for the increase in blood pressure induced by guinea pig C5a/C5a(des-Arg). We found that the LTD4 antagonist L-649,923 did not inhibit the transient rise in blood pressure. However, the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin inhibited the C5a/C5a(des-Arg)-induced pressor response as did the thromboxane synthetase inhibitor U-63557A and the thromboxane receptor antagonist SQ 29,548. In addition, the C5a/C5a(des-Arg)-induced pressor response was not inhibited by the H1 antagonist pyrilamine, but was inhibited in part by the alpha-adrenergic antagonist phentolamine. Also, the response was reduced in animals depleted of circulating platelets or white blood cells. Thus, the results of our studies suggest that intravenously injected guinea pig C5a/C5a(des-Arg) causes release of the vasoconstrictor thromboxane, most likely from circulating white blood cells or platelets, resulting in a transient rise in blood pressure in the guinea pig. In addition, release of catecholamines may contribute to the pressor response observed.