Title:

Letter from Enrique E. Ecker, Western Reserve University to Michael Heidelberger

Creator:

Ecker, Enrique E.
Western Reserve University. Institute of Pathology

Recipient:

Heidelberger, Michael

Date:

5 April 1941

Description:

In this letter, Heidelberger surveyed the young field of complement research, a field Heidelberger helped found during the late 1930s and early 1940s by proving that complement was made up of a group of specific chemical substances that could be isolated in the laboratory. Subsequent research has shown that complement is a complex system of over twenty serum proteins that after activation play an essential enzymatic role in host defense mechanisms against invading microorganisms, namely in the promotion of inflammation, phagocytosis (the engulfing of invading organisms by immune cells), and lysis (the breaking up of such organisms).

Location:

Box: 2. Folder: 17

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of Case Western Reserve University.

Genre:

Letters (correspondence)

Subject:

Complement System Proteins

Format:

Text

Extent:

1 pages

Relation:

Letter from Michael Heidelberger to Enrique E. Ecker, Western Reserve University, 1941

Language:

English

Legacy ID:

DHBBGG

NLM ID:

101584940X88

Profiles Collection:

The Michael Heidelberger Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584940X88

Story Section:

Antigens and Antibodies: Heidelberger and The Rise of Quantitative Immunochemistry, 1928-1954