Purification and partial characterization of human and porcine C3a anaphylatoxin.

C3a anaphylatoxin is a protein fragment generated enzymatically in serum during activation of the third component of complement (C3). A four-step procedure is described for the purification of human and porcine C3a anaphylatoxins from their respective sera after activation with inulin. Because serum carboxypeptidase rapidly inactivates C3a, the inhibitor epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) was added during C3 activation, thus permitting isolation of fully active C3a anaphylatoxins directly from serum. A 2000-fold purification of C3a was achieved with an average 30% recovery assuming total conversion of C3 during treatment of serum with inulin. Human C3a anaphylatoxin obtained through the action of the C3 activating enzyme of the "alternate" pathway appeared nearly identical with the C3a obtained from isolated C3 after treatment with the C4,2 enzyme of the "classical" pathway or with trypsin. Comparisons were made between various properties of human and porcine C3a anaphylatoxins. The molecular weights differed only slightly. Electrophoresis on a cellulose acetate strip at pH 8.6 indicated a difference of approximately one net charge between human and porcine C3a, with the human anaphylatoxin exhibiting the more basic behavior. Although the amino acid compositions are similar, significant differences exist. The most marked difference was the total absence of threonine residues in porcine C3a. The NH2-terminal sequences of 20 amino acid residues were examined; homology existed for 16 of the 20 positions. Although partial analysis of the primary structure of human and porcine C3a indicates approximately 80% homology, no immunological cross-reactivity between the anaphylatoxins could be detected with antisera produced to either human or porcine C3a. In spite of the structural differences, the biological activities of porcine and human C3a were essentially identical. Smooth muscle contraction, increase in vascular permeability, and release of histamine from mast cells were similarly induced by equal amounts of anaphylatoxin from either human or porcine origin. Porcine C3a, like human C3a, was shown to contain a COOH-terminal arginyl residue essential for smooth muscle contraction and for induction of histamine release from mast cells. The sequence adjacent to the COOH-terminal arginine was Leu-Ala-Arg-COOH for both humans and porcine C3a. Current evidence suggests common mechanisms exist for the generation of C3a in various animal species and that the two known C3 activating enzymes in serum exhibit trypsin-like specificity.