Subject(s)
Endothelin-1/biosynthesis , Endothelins/biosynthesis , Endothelium, Vascular/physiology , Protein Precursors/biosynthesis , Transcription, Genetic/drug effects , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/pharmacology , Animals , Cattle , Cell Membrane/drug effects , Cell Membrane/physiology , Cells, Cultured , Culture Media, Conditioned , Culture Media, Serum-Free , Endothelium, Vascular/drug effects , Glycopeptides/pharmacology , Kinetics , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Protease Inhibitors/pharmacology , Protein Processing, Post-Translational , Pulmonary ArteryABSTRACT
Corneal fibroblasts were studied to determine if they have the ability to synthesize and secrete complement components in tissue culture. Culture media were assayed for functional complement activity of C1, C4, C2, C3, C5, C6, and C7 with the use of 50% hemolysis of sensitized sheep RBCs. Only C1 showed a progressive increase in hemolytic activity at days 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 of tissue culture. This increase in hemolytic C1 could be reversibly inhibited by cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis. Corneal fibroblasts may be a potential source of C1 in the cornea.
Subject(s)
Complement C1/biosynthesis , Cornea/immunology , Fibroblasts/immunology , Aged , Cells, Cultured , Complement Inactivator Proteins/pharmacology , Cornea/drug effects , Cornea/metabolism , Culture Techniques , Cycloheximide/pharmacology , Fibroblasts/metabolism , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Hemolytic activities in the central cornea were compared with hemolytic activities in the peripheral cornea for each of the following complement components: C1, C4, C2, C3, C5, C6, and C7. For all seven complement components studied, hemolytic activities in the peripheral cornea were higher than hemolytic activities in the central cornea, and the differences were statistically significant. The most striking difference was for C1, which had a ratio of mean hemolytic activity in the peripheral cornea to that in the central cornea of almost 5:1. For the other six complement components, the ratio of the mean hemolytic activity in the peripheral cornea to that in the central cornea was approximately 1.2:1. This distribution of complement activity in the cornea suggests that the major source of complement components is the limbal vessels and that complement components diffuse from the limbus to the central cornea.
