Furthermore, the D130N variant produced a small but consistent effect on decay acceleration as observed on the SPR-based and cell lysis assay: such an effect on decay without loss of C3b binding has been reliably demonstrated in studies of R53H in aHUS and R53C, a variant that has been reported in association with aHUS, MPGN, C3G and AMD (16, 22, 25, 31, 32, 40) In these studies, however, there was a profound loss of DAA, suggesting the critical role of R53 in DAA. This evidence concerns the gene C3 and age-related macular degeneration.