Identification of a receptor for complement on the guinea pig alveolar macrophage membrane.

The present study was undertaken in an attempt to demonstrate the presence of a receptor for complement on the membrane of guinea pig alveolar macrophages (PAM). When target cells were prepared using mouse serum as the complement source, no attachment or ingestion of the target cell by guinea pig PAM was observed. When fresh autologous guinea pig serum was used as the complement source, attachment and ingestion of the target cell by PAM were observed. The results of additional experiments demonstrated that the attachment of these target cells was mediated by a complement receptor. These results demonstrated that like human PAM, guinea pig PAM do possess a membrane receptor for complement.