Factor B

Product Description

Complement factor B (fB) is purified from normal human serum. Complement factor B is a glycosylated protein composed of a single 93,000 Da polypeptide chain. It is an essential component of the alternative pathway of complement activation and is found in plasma at approximately 200 µg/mL. In the presence of Mg⁺⁺ factor B binds to C3b and the C3b,B complex can be activated by factor D, a serine protease that circulates as an active trypsin-like serine protease. Cleavage of factor B by factor D causes the release of the Ba fragment (33,000 Da) and leaves the 60,000 Bb fragment bound to C3b. This Bb subunit is a serine protease. C3b,Bb is called a C3 and a C5 convertase because it converts both of these proteins to their active forms by cleaving off the small peptides C3a and C5a, respectively (Morikis, D. and Lambris, J.D. (2005); Morley, B.J. and Walport, M.J. (2000)).

Another role for factor B is in the initiation of the alternative pathway. Continuous conversion of native C3 to a C3b-like form is a result of spontaneous hydrolysis of the thioester in C3. This C3(H₂O) binds factor B in a Mg++ stabilized complex. Factor B in the C3(H₂O),B complex can be activated by factor D releasing Ba. During alternative pathway initiation, fluid phase C3(H₂O),Bb cleaves C3 producing metastable C3b which can attach to carbohydrates on cell surfaces and on plasma proteins. If this C3b attaches to a host cell or protein it is rapidly inactivated by a variety of mechanisms due to the actions of factor H, CR1, MCP, and factor I. C3b that attaches to a foreign target lacking these regulators remains active long enough to bind factor B and form C3b,Bb as described above. This is the cell surface-bound C3/C5 convertase of the alternative pathway of complement. C3b,Bb is an unstable trypsin-like serine protease with a half-life of approximately 90 seconds in the absence of factors that accelerate decay (factor H, DAF, and CR1). The proteolytic site is in the C-terminal domain of the Bb subunit (Morley, B.J. and Walport, M.J. (2000)).

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