Amino acid sequence of the trypsin-generated C3d fragment from human complement factor C3.

Human C3d (try-C3d), prepared from trypsin-digested C3, was fragmented by cleavage with CNBr. Eight peptides were defined and separated by h.p.l.c. on reversed-phase columns. By automatic Edman degradation the complete sequences of five peptides and partial sequences of three peptides were determined. To obtain overlapping peptides the latter three fragments were digested with trypsin, chymotrypsin or Staphylococcus aureus V8 proteinase, after which the fragments were separated on reversed-phase columns. Two of the CNBr-cleavage peptides were completely sequenced, and 70% of the sequence of the remaining CNBr-cleavage peptide was determined. The non-sequenced part represents a very hydrophobic segment of try-C3d. The sequence data obtained represent 90% of the primary structure of try-C3d. Alignment of the CNBr-cleavage fragments was made easier by comparison with the cDNA sequence of mouse pro-C3 [Wetsel, Lundwall, Davidson, Gibson, Tack & Fey (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 13857-13862]. Comparison of try-C3d with the equivalent part of human C4B revealed an extensive sequence homology in the N-terminal half of the molecules.