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American Journal of Pathology, Vol 86, 635-654, Copyright © 1977 by American Society for Investigative Pathology

REGULAR ARTICLES

Immune adherence in renal glomeruli. Complement receptor sites on glomerular capillary epithelial cells

PM Burkholder, TD Oberley, TA Barber, A Beacom and C Koehler

Several very recent reports have indicated the presence of receptor sites for the third component of complement in human but not other vertebrate renal glomeruli. The present study constitutes a demonstration that the glomerular capillary epithelial cell bears this receptor, detectable with either EAC complexes (EAC1423b) or fluores ceinated zymosan-C3 (ZC3b) complexes, Fresh, unfixed frozen sections of normal or diseased human kidneys, mechanically isolated human glomeruli, dissociated glomerular cells, and glomeruli and golmerular cells maintained in tissue culture were examined with various EAC complexes or ZC3b and examined by phase light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, or transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Clearly, by scanning electron microscopy it was determined that glomerular capillary epithelial cells bind the immune-adherence EAC indicator cells. Because glomeruli or glomerular epithelial cells did not bind E, EA, EACI, EAC14, or EAC142 but did bind EAC1423b or ZC3b, it is concluded that C3b (activated bound fragment of the third component of complement) is responsible for the immune-adherence reaction in glomeruli. Preliminary examination of diseased renal biopsies indicates that sclerotic glomeruli, focal segmental sclerotic or proliferative glomerular capillary lesions, and proliferative epithelial crescents are immune-adherence negative. Furthermore, a clear or consistent inverse relationship between glomerular capillary deposits of C3 which presumably might block epithelial C3 receptor sites, and immune- adherence reactivity with EAC in vitro was not as evident in this study as reported previously by other investigators. Nevertheless, it is still attractive to conceive that glomerular C3 receptor sites might be responsible for binding of antigen-antibody-complement complexes and formation of immune-complex deposits, at least on the epimembranous (subepithelial) surface of glomerular capillary walls. Inability to demonstrate this immune-adherence phenomenon in glomeruli of other vertebrate animals suggests among other things that more investigation is necessary before ascribing a unique or universal significance to the C3 receptors identified in human glomeruli.

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