For example, inhibiting the down-stream of complement cascade (C5 and MAC) and/or C5aR could protect the brain from Plasmodium infection-induced tissue damage (Patel et al., 2008; Ramos et al., 2011; Buckingham et al., 2014; Kim et al., 2014), whereas inhibition restricted to the upstream components (C1q, C2, and FB) could be beneficial in prion diseases (Klein et al., 2001), as shown in animal models. The gene discussed is C5AR1; the disease is prion disease.