instigated = spurred?

Context:

The alternative pathway of complement activation by properdin, and its role as a pattern recognition molecule, was prematurely dismissed in the 1950s. While the classical complement activation pathway is antibody-based, with C3 deficiency classically linked to SLE, the alternative pathway focuses on C3 convertase being instigated on microbial surfaces (Dennis Hourcade, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri) [34]. The alternative pathway activation of complement has been implicated in a number of autoimmune-like conditions, including one form of glomerulonephritis and age-related macular degeneration (AMD)