Abstract
Complement activation by spores of Mucor ramosissimus, Mucor plumbeus and Mucor circinelloides was studied using absorbed human serum in the presence or absence of chelators (EGTA or EDTA). We found that the spore caused full complement activation when incubated with EGTA-Mg2+ or without chelators, indicating that the alternative pathway is mainly responsible for this response. In order to compare activation profiles from each species, ELISAs for C3 and C4 fragments, mannan binding lectin (MBL), C-reactive protein (CRP) and IgG studies were carried out. All proteins were present on the species tested. Immunofluorescence tests demonstrated the presence of C3 fragments on the surface of all samples, which were confluent throughout fungal surfaces. The same profile of C3, C4, MBL, CRP and IgG deposition, observed in all species, suggests a similar activation behavior for these species.
Acknowledgements
The present work was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). A special thanks to Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) for providing sheep's blood and Fátima Regina de V. Goulart and Ana Regina M. de Sousa for technical support.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 01 February 2010.