2018 participants
Sam Murray
Complement is part of the immune system which fights infection. It is always active in our bodies to stop infection, but it does not damage our own tissues. Unlike pathogens, our blood and tissues have protective proteins which inhibit complement. When this control ‘goes wrong’ our organs can be damaged, triggering disease.
One of the ways these diseases can occur is through abnormal production of ‘autoantibodies’ which inactivate the protective proteins. Researchers in Newcastle developed an ‘artificial’ autoantibody which was thought to mimic those produced in diseases. In my project, I used several techniques to purify and test this autoantibody to show that it binds and inactivates the protective proteins and so causes abnormal activation of the complement system in human blood. By doing this, I have shown that in the future this autoantibody can be used as a model that can test new drugs for therapy.
Funding source: Wellcome Trust
Supervisor: Prof Claire L Harris