Models for C1. Tools or toys? The real biological challenge.

C1 modelling, based on structural and functional data, does not yet bring the different laboratories to a consensus on C1 activation, activity and associated controls. The heart of C1 beats in its subcomponent C1r2, which, from its domain structure and its twinning with subcomponent C1s, represents the challenge for the knowledge of C1. The 8-shaped model proposed for the C1r2-C1s2 association, with a head-to-tail interaction between the C1r catalytic domains, appears as the hub of an active world in the bosom of C1q. More detail is now required on protein-protein interactions inside C1 to refine the available models or to propose alternatives. Precise data on the interactions of C1 proteins with activators, substrates or control proteins are also likely to bring pertinent help in proposing future models for C1.