Complement system regulatory protein

Complement system regulatory proteins are a group of soluble and membrane-bound proteins that tightly control the activation and activity of the complement system to prevent unwarranted damage to host tissues while enabling efficient immune defense against pathogens[1][2][3][6][13]. They function at various points in the complement cascade by inhibiting protease activity, accelerating the decay of enzyme complexes, acting as cofactors to inactivate key complement fragments, or blocking the formation of the membrane attack complex[1][3][12]. These regulators are essential for maintaining immune homeostasis; deficiencies or dysfunctions can result in severe autoimmunity, chronic inflammation, increased infection sensitivity, or facilitate tumor immune evasion[1][6].

Other names

Complement regulatory proteinComplement control proteinMembrane-bound complement regulatory proteinSoluble complement regulatory protein

Inhibition of complement activation at various points in the cascade; Decay acceleration of C3/C5 convertase complexes; Cofactor activity for serine protease Factor I to inactivate C3b/C4b; Preventing membrane attack complex (MAC) formation on host cells.