Synthesis of complement by macrophages and modulation of their functions through complement activation.

During the last decade considerable progress has been made to characterize intimate functional links between macrophages, a major cellular component of immunoinflammatory responses, and the complement system representing the major humoral mediator of inflammation. Macrophages of various species and tissue sites have been shown to synthesize and release most of the complement components providing these cells with their own \ldpericellular\rd complement system. Circumstantial evidence for the assembly of both classical and alternative pathway convertases has been adduced. An intricate network of feedback loops involving endogenous and extrinsic factors operates to adjust complement production…