THE EIGHTH COMPONENT OF HUMAN COMPLEMENT (C8): ISOLATION, CHARACTERIZATION, AND HEMOLYTIC EFFICIENCY

Abstract
A method was described allowing the isolation of the eighth component of complement, C8, from human serum. C8 is an immunochemically definable, heretofore unrecognized serum protein with a molecular weight of approximately 150,000 and an electrophoretic mobility of a γ1-globulin. It may be obtained with 5% yield as a 5000-fold purified, physicochemically and immunochemically homogeneous protein. Under optimal experimental conditions, a few molecules of C8 were found sufficient for lysis of a cell.