C2 is a critical protease for compliment activation, which supports bacterial killing via phagocytes. C2 can be used in research to explore the mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens evade detection by the compliment system. One such mechanism by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa, uses the alkaline protease (AprA) to degrade and cleave C2 which ultimately interferes with the classical and lectin pathways. Research has shown that C2 deficiency results in an increased risk of infection by Streptococcus pyogenes through impaired phaogocytosis and neutrophil dependent killing.
Heritable complement C2 deficiency can manifest as a number of severe dermatological disorders, including discoid lupus erythematosus, idiopathic atrophoderma, and dermatomyositis.
