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The complement system is also important in immunogenic cell death

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 17, page 143 (2017)Cite this article

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We recently came across a Review (Nat. Rev. Immunol. doi: 10.1038/nri.2016.107 (2016))1 published in your distinguished journal. We completely agree with the authors' statement that immunogenic cell death (ICD), whether occurring in cancer cells or pathogen infection, requires the two key factors antigenicity and adjuvanticity. However, this Review neglects the important role of the complement system in ICD. Complement-mediated opsonization has a pivotal role in the uptake of apoptotic cells, a process that is aberrantly handled under complement-deficient conditions2.

The interaction of C1q and its receptor, calreticulin, is involved in immune tolerance by recognition and uptake of apoptotic cells and modulation of cytokine release3. In the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus, intracellular self-antigens are targeted by a mechanism related to the classical complement system, the early components of which lack inheritably4. Factor H is a cofactor for factor I-mediated inactivation of the alternative pathway C3 and C5 convertases that drive alternative pathway amplification of the cascade.

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References

  1. Galluzzi, L., Buqué, A., Kepp, O., Zitvogel, L. & Kroemer, G. Immunogenic cell death in cancer and infectious disease. Nat. Rev. Immunol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nri.2016.107 (2016).

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Acknowledgements

The authors are supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81572738) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi (2015GXNSFEA139003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Junfei Jin is at the Laboratory of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University; China–USA Lipids in Health and Disease Research Center, Guilin Medical University; and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine in Liver Injury and Repair, Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541001, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.,

    Junfei Jin

  2. China–USA Lipids in Health and Disease Research Center, Guilin Medical University,

    Junfei Jin

  3. Songqing He is at the Laboratory of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine in Liver Injury and Repair, Guilin Medical University, Guilin, 541001, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.,

    Songqing He

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Correspondence to Junfei Jin or Songqing He.

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Jin, J., He, S. The complement system is also important in immunogenic cell death. Nat Rev Immunol 17, 143 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri.2016.142

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