Mechanisms by which Factor H protects from the alternative pathway of complement.

Chagas disease, a chronic disabling disease caused by the protozoan , has no standardized treatment or preventative vaccine. The infective trypomastigote form of is highly resistant to killing by the complement immune system. Factor H (FH), a negative regulator of the alternative pathway (AP) of complement on cell surfaces and in blood, contains 20 short consensus repeat domains.

Striking parallels between carotid body glomus cell and adrenal chromaffin cell development.

Carotid body glomus cells mediate essential reflex responses to arterial blood hypoxia. They are dopaminergic and secrete growth factors that support dopaminergic neurons, making the carotid body a potential source of patient-specific cells for Parkinson's disease therapy. Like adrenal chromaffin cells, which are also hypoxia-sensitive, glomus cells are neural crest-derived and require the transcription factors Ascl1 and Phox2b; otherwise, their development is little understood at the molecular level.