COMPLEMENT DIVERSITY - A MECHANISM FOR GENERATING IMMUNE DIVERSITY

Unlike mammalian species, several cold-blooded species have been shown to possess multiple forms of complement components. The multiple form s of C3 characterized in several fish species can bind with different specificities to various complement-activating surfaces. Here, Oriol S unyer, Ioannis Zarkadis and John Lambris explore the possible advantag es conferred by having multiple forms of individual complement protein s in a single organism.