Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026

In Vitro Canine Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation: Dynamic and Quantitative Analysis by Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: August 24, 2018
Pentraxins in innate immunity: lessons from PTX3
Livija Deban1, Sebastien Jaillon, Cecilia Garlanda
1Istituto Clinico Humanitas IRCCS, Via Manzoni 113, 20089 Rozzano, Milan, Italy.
Abstract:
The innate immune system constitutes the first line of defence against microorganisms and plays a primordial role in the activation and regulation of adaptive immunity. The innate immune system is composed of a cellular arm and a humoral arm. Components of the humoral arm include members of the complement cascade and soluble pattern recognition molecules (PRMs). These fluid-phase PRMs represent the functional ancestors of antibodies and play a crucial role in the discrimination between self, non-self and modified-self. Moreover, evidence has been presented that these soluble PRMs participate in the regulation of inflammatory responses and interact with the cellular arm of the innate immune system. Pentraxins consist of a set of multimeric soluble proteins and represent the prototypic components of humoral innate immunity. Based on the primary structure of the protomer, pentraxins are divided into two groups: short pentraxins and long pentraxins. The short pentraxins C-reactive protein and serum amyloid P-component are produced by the liver and represent the main acute phase proteins in human and mouse, respectively. The long pentraxin PTX3 is produced by innate immunity cells (e.g. PMN, macrophages, dendritic cells), interacts with several ligands and plays an essential role in innate immunity, tuning inflammation and matrix deposition. PTX3 provides a paradigm for the mode of action of humoral innate immunity.
Related Concept Videos
Antimicrobial Proteins
Interferons
Interferons (IFNs) are proteins produced by lymphocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts infected with viruses. While IFNs cannot prevent viruses from entering and...
Transduction
Bacterial Toxins
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing
Inhibitors of Gram-positive Cell Wall Synthesis
Mechanism of Antibiotic Resistance in MRSA

