DEFICIENCY OF C1r IN HUMAN SERUM : EFFECTS ON THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF MACROMOLECULAR C1

The experiments presented here utilize a human serum markedly deficient in hemolytic complement activity to show that: (a) The hemolytic deficiency is the result of a selective deficiency in hemolytic C1. (b) The relative absence of hemolytic C1 is due to a profound deficit in C1r function associated with less than normal C1s protein and hemolytic function and normal C1q protein concentration and function. This deficit in C1r in the face of normal C1q suggests that different cell types are responsible for the synthesis of each of these components. (c) Whatever the basis for the deficiency of C1r function, this defect results in an inadequate association of the remaining C1 subcomponents, C1q and C1s, even in the presence of calcium ions, thus suggesting that C1r has an important role in the assembly and/or maintenance of macromolecular C1.