Complement C2

C2 is a major histocompatibility complex class-III protein. Component C2 which is part of the classical pathway of the complement system is cleaved by activated factor C1 into two fragments: C2b and C2a. C2a, a serine protease, then combines with complement factor C4b to generate the C3 or C5 convertase. The lectin (LP) and classical (CP) pathways are two of the three main activation cascades of the complement system. These pathways start with recognition of different pathogen- or danger-associated molecular patterns and include identical steps of proteolytic activation of complement component C4, formation of the C3 proconvertase C4b2, followed by cleavage of complement component C2 within C4b2 resulting in the C3 convertase C4b2a.