Abstract

BONILLA MORALES, Miguel Macgayver  and  RONDON-BARRAGAN, Iang Schroniltgen. Comparative biology of the complement system in fish. Ces. Med. Vet. Zootec. [online]. 2011, vol.6, n.2, pp.74-90. ISSN 1900-9607.

Within the humoral immune response can be found components that maintain an organism's homeostasis via control of pathogenic agents using opsonization, chemotaxis of phagocytic cells which facilitates the process of elimination of foreign bodies, or in its absence, the formation of pores in the cellular membrane. One of these groups of components, of protein origin, is referred to as the complement system, which has 3 means of activation (Classic, Alternative, and Lectins) and functions as anaphylactic toxins, regulators and receptors. The aim of this review is to discuss the different components of the complement system in the animal kingdom, focusing principally on teleost fish and mammals, as model organisms in the search to elucídate their differences, homologies, and answers.

Keywords : Innate immunity; complement system; classic pathway; lectin pathway; alternative pathway; vertebrates.

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