What's new in the role of complement in diseases?

The importance of complement in the potentiation of the immune response is now firmly established. More recently, however, evidence has accumulated which suggests that complement may influence biological events following non-immunologically mediated tissue damage. Several of the many different genetically controlled structural forms of complement components, which are now recognised, have been shown to influence immunoregulation and disease susceptibility. Furthermore, molecular and genetic analyses have revealed that some of the regulatory elements such as S-protein may have multiple biological functions. As a consequence, it is likely that reference to detailed functional and molecular properties of various complement components, with special reference to regulatory elements will provide new insights into mechanisms of pathogenesis of disease.