Methods for treatment of age-related macular degeneration

1. A method of treating a human patient in need of treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) comprising administering to the patient a composition comprising an inhibitor of the alternative pathway of complement activation, wherein said inhibitor is:

(a) a naturally occurring human Complement Factor H polypeptide comprising residues 19-1231 of SEQ ID NO:5, or a naturally occurring splice variant thereof, or an allelic variant of said human CFH polypeptide or splice variant, with the proviso that residue 62, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:5, is isoleucine, residue 402 of said human CFH polypeptide, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:5, is tyrosine, and residue 1210, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:5, is arginine, wherein the human CFH polypeptide binds complement component 3b (C3b);

(b) a recombinant or purified Complement Factor H polypeptide, wherein the complement factor H polypeptide has at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2 and binds to complement component 3b (C3b), with the proviso that at residue 62, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, the complement factor H polypeptide comprises isoleucine, at residue 402, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, the complement factor H polypeptide comprises tyrosine, and at residue 1210, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, the complement factor H polypeptide comprises arginine; or

(c) a naturally occurring human Complement Factor H polypeptide that binds to complement component 3b (C3b) and has at least 90% amino acid sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, with the proviso that residue 62, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, is isoleucine, residue 402, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, is tyrosine, and residue 1210, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, is arginine.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inhibitor is a naturally occurring human Complement Factor H (human CFH) polypeptide comprising residues 19-1231 of SEQ ID NO:5, or a naturally occurring splice variant thereof, or an allelic variant of said human CFH polypeptide or splice variant, with the proviso that residue 62 of said human CFH, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:5, is isoleucine, residue 402, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:5, is tyrosine and residue 1210, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:5, is arginine, wherein the human CFH polypeptide protein binds complement component 3b (C3b).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the Factor H polypeptide is administered to the eye.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the Factor H polypeptide is administered by intraocular injection.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inhibitor is a recombinant or purified Complement Factor H (CFH) polypeptide and wherein the complement factor H polypeptide has at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2 and binds to complement component 3b (C3b), with the proviso that at residue 62, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, the complement factor H polypeptide comprises isoleucine, at residue 402, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, the complement factor H polypeptide comprises tyrosine, and at residue 1210, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, the complement factor H polypeptide comprises arginine.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the complement factor H polypeptide has at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the complement factor H polypeptide has a sequence consisting of residues 19-1231 of SEQ ID NO:5.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the complement factor H polypeptide is a recombinant polypeptide.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the complement factor H polypeptide is purified from blood.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the complement factor H polypeptide is administered systemically.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition is a sterile pathogen-free preparation.

13. A method of treating a patient diagnosed with or at risk for developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) comprising administering a composition comprising a recombinant or purified complement factor H polypeptide to the patient, wherein

(a) the complement factor H polypeptide has at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2, comprises isoleucine at residue 62 numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, comprises tyrosine at residue 402 numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, and binds complement component 3b (C3b), or

(b) is a biologically active fragment of (a) that comprises isoleucine at residue 62 numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2 and binds C3b.

14. The method of claim 1 or claim 13 wherein the patient has been diagnosed with early stage AMD.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the patient shows signs of drusen development.

16. The method of claim 1 or claim 13 wherein the patient has signs or symptoms of AMD.

17. The method of claim 1 or claim 13 wherein the patient has been diagnosed as having a propensity to develop AMD.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said inhibitor is a naturally occurring human Complement Factor H (human CFH) polypeptide that binds to complement component 3b (C3b) and has at least 90% amino acid sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, with the proviso that residue 62, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, is isoleucine, residue 402, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, is tyrosine, and residue 1210, numbered relative to SEQ ID NO:2, is arginine.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the complement factor H polypeptide has at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2.

20. The method of claim 2 wherein the patient's genome comprises a CFH allele encoding a CFH polypeptide having histidine at position 402.

21. The method of claim 5 wherein the patient's genome comprises a CFH allele encoding a CFH protein having histidine at position 402.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the patient's genome comprises a CFH allele encoding a CFH protein having histidine at position 402.