Human nasal epithelium adsorbs complement C3-related fragments and expresses cell membrane complement regulatory proteins.

Recent evidence suggests that complement is activated in human nasal airways in inflammatory states. Activated complement protects the nasal mucosa against microorganisms, but also has the potential to lyse the host's normal cells. Complement-mediated cell lysis depends on adsorption of complement to the cell membrane and on uninterrupted activation of the complement cascade upon the same cell membrane. In the present study, the authors investigated first whether key complement components, C3-related fragments, are adsorbed to nasal epithelial cell membrane. Second, we investigated whether nasal epithelium expresses cell membrane complement regulatory proteins that are known as interruptors of complement activation. Studies were done using fresh nasal mucosa obtained at turbinectomies from allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis patients. In addition, in order to establish an in vitro model, studies were also done using primary cell cultures of nasal epithelium. We have found that complement C3-related fragments are present on cell membranes of fresh nasal epithelium and that C3-related fragments are adsorbed to the epithelial cell membrane in nasal mucosa tissue segments and in cell cultures that were incubated with autologous serum. Adsorption of C3-related fragments to the cell membrane of cultured nasal epithelial cells was found by flow cytometry analysis to be concentration-dependent. In addition, we found that nasal epithelium in fresh tissue and in cell culture express three cell membrane complement regulatory proteins: membrane cofactor protein (MCP, CD46), decay-accelerating factor (DAF, CD55), and CD59. Our findings in fresh nasal epithelium suggest that complement activation may occur upon the nasal epithelial cell membrane during inflammation in vivo and that nasal epithelium might regulate this complement activation. Our in vitro cell culture model will allow further investigations of complement activation and regulation upon the human nasal epithelial cell membrane.