Rabbit Anti-Human C4BPB Polyclonal antibody

C4b-binding protein (C4BP) is an abundant oligomeric plasma glycoprotein which controls the activation of the complement cascade through the classical pathway. In humans, the majority form of C4BP is composed of seven alpha-chains and one beta-chain, covalently linked by their C-termini. C4BP is mainly expressed in the liver. We have previously cloned and characterized the structure of the genes encoding the alpha and beta chains, C4BPA and C4BPB, respectively. Here we addressed the characterization of the mechanisms controlling the hepatic restricted expression of the C4BPA gene. We found that the C4BPA promoter is contained within the first 369 bp upstream of the transcription start site. The activity of this promoter is restricted to hepatic cells in transfection experiments. The hepatic transcription factor HNF1 interacts with a region of this promoter at -38 bp. This region is absolutely required for the activity of this promoter, suggesting that HNF1 is essential for the hepatic activity of the C4BPA promoter. We speculate that this extreme requirement of HNF1 for the activity of the human C4BPA promoter is related to the fact that this promoter lacks a TATA box.

Epidemiological studies have indicated that both maternal bacterial and viral infections during pregnancy increase the risk of schizophrenia among offspring, but to date there is not clear explanation for this increased risk. Previously, the decreased C4b-binding protein (C4BP), a potent circulating soluble inhibitor of the classical and lectin pathways of complement, was reported to be associated with risk of schizophrenia. Here, we analyzed 4 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of C4BPB and 5 SNPs of C4BPA in a group of 556 schizophrenia patients and a matched group of 610 healthy controls to see if the genes C4BPB and C4BPA, which encode C4BP, may confer a susceptibility to schizophrenia. Comparing the genotype and allele frequencies of those SNPs between cases and controls, we found no association between the C4BPB/C4BPA variants and schizophrenia. Our results provided preliminary evidence that C4BPB/C4BPA may not confer susceptibility to schizophrenia among Han Chinese. Further genetic studies from large-scale population are required to obtain more conclusive results. (c) 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.