Immune damage to the mesangium: antibody- and complement-mediated stimulation and destruction of mesangial cells

Abstract

The deposition of immune complexes in the tissue results in complement activation leading to the formation of the lytic C5b-9 complex. Tissue cells are relatively resistant to complement attack due to cellular mechanisms such as removing C5b-9 from the surface and the expression of membrane proteins, which regulate complement activation and attack on the cell surface. Hence, cell killing is not an important consequence of complement activation on nucleated cells. On the other hand, the sublethal C5b-9-membrane interaction leads to various cellular responses, among them the synthesis of eicosanoids, cytokines, matrix-degrading proteases, and extracellular matrix, resulting in the modification of cell proliferation, leukocyte function, matrix degradation, and the formation of scar tissue. Thus, the complement-dependent immune damage is caused by secondary mediators, either derived from leukocytes or mesangial cells, rather than by a direct C5b-9-mediated killing.