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In self-defense

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Discrimination between self and non-self surfaces by the complement system of innate immunity has long been enigmatic. Finally, two papers provide structural insights into host protection against indiscriminate immune surveillance.

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Figure 1: Schematic overview of the amplification of the complement response and host protection by factor H.
Figure 2: Comparison of the C3d–FH19–20 complexes.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks F. Forneris and J. Wu for discussions and help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Piet Gros is in the Laboratory of Crystal and Structural Chemistry, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,

    Piet Gros

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  1. Piet Gros
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Correspondence to Piet Gros.

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Gros, P. In self-defense. Nat Struct Mol Biol 18, 401–402 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2036

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