= Viktor A. Bokisch
{c}
Viktor A. Bokisch is the first-listed author of a 1969 study isolating <C3a>, a small fragment of the <complement system> <protein> <Complement C3>. The researchers connected the separated fragment with <smooth muscle> contraction and showed that <antibodies> recognizing <C3a> could inhibit its biological activity. This joined chemical separation with a functional test.<Isolation of a fragment (C3a) of the third component of human complement containing anaphylatoxin and chemotactic activity and description of an anaphylatoxin inactivator of human serum by Viktor A. Bokisch and others>[Abstract, Journal of Experimental Medicine 129 (1969), pp. 1109–1130; DOI 10.1084/jem.129.5.1109.]{ref}
The experiment illustrates why identifying a <protein> fragment requires more than detecting a smaller molecule. Separating it, distinguishing it from <C3b> with <antibodies>, and testing its effect gave complementary evidence. The study also found that a serum preparation could inactivate the <anaphylatoxin> activity, showing that generation and removal of an active signal are separate parts of <complement system> regulation.<Isolation of a fragment (C3a) of the third component of human complement containing anaphylatoxin and chemotactic activity and description of an anaphylatoxin inactivator of human serum by Viktor A. Bokisch and others>[Abstract: antigenic distinction, antibody inhibition and serum-mediated inactivation.]{ref}
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