Land H-ficolins are serum oligomeric defense proteins consisting of a collagen-like region and a fibrinogen-like recognition domain that bind to pathogenand apoptotic cell-associated molecular patterns. They share with mannan-binding lectin (MBL) the ability to associate with MBL-associated serine proteases (MASP)-1, -2, -3, and protein MAp19 and to trigger the lectin complement pathway through...

OBJECTIVE The significance of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and H-ficolin deficiency in febrile neutropenic (FN) patients and the correlation of these markers along with consecutive C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) levels during the infectious process are investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients with any hematological malignancies who were defined to have "microbiologically...

Ficolins are pathogen-recognition molecules in innate immune systems. The crystal structure of the human M-ficolin recognition domain (FD1) has been determined at 1.9 A resolution, and compared with that of the human fibrinogen gamma fragment, tachylectin-5A, L-ficolin and H-ficolin. The overall structure of FD1 is similar to that of the other proteins, although the peptide bond between Asp282 ...

In Denmark, patients with serious nonspecific symptoms and signs of cancer (NSSC) are referred to the diagnostic outpatient clinics (DOCs) where an accelerated cancer diagnostic program is initiated. Various immunological and inflammatory biomarkers have been associated with cancer, including soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and the pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) p...

Stroke is one of the most leading causes of death and disability in the world. Complement system activation contributes to pathogenesis and neuronal damage following stroke. There are no defined biological serum markers to determine the severity of stroke in acute phases. The purpose of current study was to determine the association of three complement activators, namely Pentraxin-3 (PTX3),M-fi...

Background Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is associated with a certain genetic predisposition, i.e., the presence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27. However, pathogenesis remains largely unexplained. Animal models ankylosing spondylitis have shown inhibition complement to be beneficial in terms limiting structural damage (1). The lectin pathway activation serves as key component innate immu...

BACKGROUND M-ficolin, a pathogen recognition molecule in the innate immune system, binds sugar residues including N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc), which is displayed on invading microbes and on apoptotic cells. The cis and trans Asp282-Cys283 peptide bond in the M-ficolin, which was found to occur at neutral and acidic pH in crystal structures, has been suggested to represent binding and non-bi...

BACKGROUND Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), one of the neglected tropical diseases, is endemic in the Indian subcontinent. Ficolins are circulating serum proteins of the lectin complement system and involved in innate immunity. METHODS We have estimated ficolin-2 serum levels and analyzed the functional variants of the encoding gene FCN2 in 218 cases of VL and in 225 controls from an endemic regi...