The binding properties of human complement component C1q. Interaction with mucopolysaccharides.

Abstract Quantitative measurements have been made of the interaction of human complement subcomponent C1q with mucopolysaccharides. The binding of C1q to heparin was quantitatively examined by utilizing an assay that employs a 125I-labeled low molecular weight heparin glycosaminoglycan (LMW-Hep) (Mr = 8500). Two classes of binding sites were detected. The first class of sites bound 2.02 mol of LMW-Hep/mol of C1q with a Kd of 76.6 nM. The second class of sites complexes with 12 mol of LMW-Hep with a Kd of 1.01 microM. The higher affinity-binding site for LMW-Hep could be assigned to the collagenous region of C1q (C1q-c); 2.2 mol of 125I-LMW-Hep were bound/mol of purified isolated C1q-c with a Kd = 381 nM. In contrast, the isolated C1q globular region did not bind to 125I-LMW-Hep. The binding of LMW-Hep to C1q and the C1q-c region was confirmed by fluorescence polarization experiments; C1q and C1q-c bound 2.3 and 2.02 mol of fluorescamine-labeled LMW-Hep/mol of protein, respectively. A variety of mucopolysaccharides were able to inhibit interaction of C1q with 125I-LMW-Hep, the most effective being heparan sulfate and dermatan sulfate. LMW-Hep (2.5 nM) inhibited the ability of C1q (0.5 nM) to recombine with C1r (1.4 nM) and C1s (1.6 nM) to form hemolytically active C1. At 250 mM, LMW-Hep inhibited the hemolytic activity of reconstituted C1. The ability of mucopolysaccharides to interact with purified C1q suggests a role for such molecules in the regulation of the first component of complement.