Complement activation mediates cellular adhesion to synthetic biomaterials

The possibility has arisen that it is the complement proteins of blood plasma that mediates cellular adhesion following the exposure of a synthetic material to blood. There are two means of investigating this possibility. One is by pharmacologically rendering the complement system of an animal incapable of being activated before its blood is exposed to a material and determining the effect on the degree of cellular adhesion that results. The second is to leave the hemostasis system fully in tact but to modify the material so that the material activates less complement when it is exposed to blood and to determine if this also reduces the degree of cellular adhesion. We review the results of a series of studies that involve both of these approaches. The evidence from both indicate that the complement system mediates cellular adhesion to synthetic materials.