ECCO

Please join @EccoComplement this Thursday, Nov 20, for our free online seminar, “New Methods and Techniques in Complement Research.” Early-career complement scientists will be presenting a range of research techniques. All are welcome! Register here: complement.org/event-6410862

PAPER OF THE WEEK (4/4) Every week, ECCO highlights a new & exciting research article about the complement system. We strive to promote the work of early-career scientists. Did you recently publish a paper relevant to the complement field? Submit your work and we will promote it!

PAPER OF THE WEEK! (1/4) This week’s paper by Prasad et al. explores how the complosome drives metabolic and inflammatory changes in vascular fibroblasts in pulmonary hypertension (PH)...

PAPER OF THE WEEK (3/4) These findings highlight intracellular complement activation as a potential therapeutic target for PH management. Read the full text here: insight.jci.org/articles/view/…

PAPER OF THE WEEK (2/4) The authors found that PH fibroblasts exhibit elevated expression of complement proteins (C3, CFD, CFB), which promote mitochondrial dysfunction, metabolic reprogramming, and pro-inflammatory signaling.

📢 Attention Complement Biologists!! The abstract and travel award deadline for ICW2025 has been extended to April 14! There are many great travel awards available for Early Career Researchers! Register and find more information here 👉 complement.org/icw-2025 @ComplementSoc

Read more about Dr. Meuleman at this link! (4/4) instagram.com/p/DG-ocACizUZ/…

Congratulations to February's ECCO Scientist of the Month, Dr. Marie-Sophie Meuleman! Marie-Sophie studied for an MD in Nephrology at the Université Paris Cité and a PhD in Immunology at Cordeliers Research Center in the lab of Prof. Cremer. (1/4)

Marie-Sophie would like to share her recent publication in which she focused upon both the activation of the terminal complement pathway and the intrarenal immune response in C3 glomerulopathy. Find it here! 👇 (3/4) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38709564/

Marie-Sophie was introduced to complement during her master’s degree where she studied complement activation by monoclonal immunoglobulins under the supervision of Sophie Chauvet. C3 is her favourite complement protein because “without it nothing would be possible!”. (2/4)

Genetic variants in C3 and FH play a crucial role in determining renal outcomes post-transplantation - perhaps this indicates a genetic-mediated tailoring of treatments? #complement #allograftrejection #kidney buff.ly/4182roF

Excited to be hosting the International Complement Workshop in Brisbane! Join us from Sept 14th-19th for cutting-edge complement science and unique Australian experiences. Submit abstracts by March 14! More info: complement.org/icw-2025 #ICW2025 #ComplementScience #Complement

PAPER OF THE WEEK (4/4) Every week, ECCO highlights a new & exciting research article about the complement system. We strive to promote the work of early-career scientists. Did you recently publish a paper relevant to the complement field? Submit your work and we will promote it!

PAPER OF THE WEEK (1/4) This week's paper by Chi et al. explores C3-C3aR-mediated astrocyte-neuron communication in Parkinson’s disease (PD). They found that complement C3 colocalizes with astrocytes in the CNS, with expression regulated by TLR2 and NF-kB.

PAPER OF THE WEEK (3/4) The authors suggest these findings could be applied as a potential therapeutic strategy for PD by modulating astrocyte-neuron interactions. Read the full paper here! 👇 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39288893/

PAPER OF THE WEEK (2/4) Overexpression of C3 increased dopaminergic neuron loss in a PD mouse model. The study highlights the role of C3/C3aR signaling between neurons and astrocytes in regulating apoptosis and alpha-synuclein pathology.

Dr. Watkins would like to share his recent publication (Evans, Watkins, Hawkins et. al., 2023) in which he and other members of Dr. Howell's lab highlight the association between complement activation and grey matter pathology in multiple sclerosis. (4/4) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37032838/

📢January’s ECCO Scientist of the Month is Dr. Lewis Watkins!🎉 Dr. Watkins earned his PhD at Swansea University studying complement in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). He is now a postdoc at Cardiff’s Dementia Research Institute, where he studies the role of complement in dementia (1/4)

His favourite complement system component is Factor H and its related proteins. He selected Factor H because whilst it has been identified as dysregulated in dementia, its role in the disease’s aetiology and progression is not fully understood. (3/4)

Dr. Watkins was introduced to the complement system while working as a research technician in Dr. Owain Howell’s lab. His interest grew when he realized that while complement was well studied in the white matter pathology of MS, its role in grey matter remained unexplored. (2/4)