C5a Protein

Natural human C5a is prepared from human C5 protein by cleavage of the peptide bond between C5a and C5b by the human C5 convertase. C5a is a naturally glycosylated polypeptide containing 74 amino acids with a molecular weight of approx. 10,400 daltons. It contains 25% carbohydrate attached to a single Asn residue at position 64. This carbohydrate is of variable structure leading to a broad distribution of MW upon analysis by mass spectroscopy. C5a is the most potent anaplylatoxin (compared to C3a and C4a) . Its biological properties include being strongly chemotactic for neutrophils (PMN), causing smooth muscle contraction, increasing vascular permeability, causing histamine and TNF-alpha release, and causing lysosomal degranulation of immune cells. C5a acts through the C5a Receptor (C5aR, CD88, a G-protein coupled receptor) on PMN, monocytes, alveolar macrophages, and mast cells.