Complement-Mediated Bactericidal System: Evidence for a New Pathway of Complement Action

Abstract
The early components of human complement (C1, C4, and C2) plus certain serum euglobulins will kill pathogenic strains of Shigella sonnei . Serum from patients with hereditary C3 deficiencies and specific antiserums to C3, C5, and C6 were utilized to demonstrate the absence of requirements for late-acting complement components in this unusual bactericidal system.