Vol. 50, Issue 1, 59-88, March 1998

Therapeutic Inhibition of the Complement System

Savvas C. Makrides^a

Department of Cell Biology, PRAECIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts

I. Introduction
II. The Complement System and Its Regulation
    A. The Classical Pathway
    B. The Alternative Pathway
    C. The Membrane Attack Complex
III. Modified Native Complement Components That Block Complement Activation
    A. Soluble Complement Receptor Type 1
    B. Soluble Complement-Receptor Type 1 Lacking Long Homologous Repeat-A
    C. Soluble Complement Receptor Type 1-Sialyl Lewis^x
    D. Complement Receptor Type 2
    E. Soluble Decay Accelerating Factor
    F. Soluble Membrane Cofactor Protein
    G. Soluble CD59
    H. Decay Accelerating Factor-CD59 Hybrid
    I. Membrane Cofactor Protein-Decay Accelerating Factor Hybrid
    J. C1 Inhibitor
    K. C1q Receptor
IV. Complement-Inhibitory Antibodies
    A. Anti-C5 Monoclonal Antibody
    B. Anti-C5 Single Chain Fv
V. Synthetic Inhibitors of Complement Activation
    A. Peptides and Analogs
    B. Organic Molecules
VI. Naturally Occurring Compounds That Block Complement Activation
VII. Complement Inhibition in Xenotransplantation
VIII. Bispecific Antibodies for Immune Complex Removal
IX. Summary
Acknowledgments
References