Merck, HCMPEX1-19K-07, MILLIPLEX® Human Complement Expanded Panel 1

The complement system consists of a large number of plasma proteins that assist, or complement, the ability of phagocytic cells and antibodies to clear pathogens. Although it is part of the innate immune system, not adaptable and unchanging over the course of a lifetime, it can be recruited and activated by the adaptive immune system. The system proteins and glycoproteins that are synthesized primarily by hepatocytes normally circulate as inactive pro-proteins. Once stimulated the end result of the cascade is a massive amplification of response and activation of the membrane attack complex, which forms a transmembrane pore causing osmotic lysis of target cells. The complement system consists of three different simultaneous pathways. The classical pathway is stimulated by antigen-antibody complexes; the alternative pathway spontaneously activates on contact with pathogenic cell surfaces; the mannose-binding lectin pathway recognizes mannose sugars usually present only on pathogenic cell surfaces. The complement system is thought to play a key role in many diseases with an immune component, such as asthma or sepsis, and in many autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. It is also becoming increasingly associated with neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s Disease, and conditions such as spinal cord injuries. The MILLIPLEX® Human Complement Expanded Panel 1 is a 9-plex kit to be used for the simultaneous quantification of any or all of the following analytes in serum, plasma, or culture supernatant samples: C2, C4b, C5, C5a, C9, Factor D (Adipsin), Factor I, Mannose-Binding Lectin (MBL), and Properdin.