• Alberto Mantovani, Cecilia Garlanda, and Barbara Bottazzi.
• Department of Immunology and Cell Biology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy. mantovani@marionegri.it
• Vaccine. 2003 Jun 1;21 Suppl 2:S43-7.

AbstractPentraxin 3 (PTX3) is the first long pentraxin identified. Long pentraxins consist of a C-terminal pentraxin domain, which has sequence similarity to C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid P (SAP) component (the classic short pentraxins), and of an unrelated N-terminal portion. PTX3 is made by diverse cell types, most prominently endothelial cells, macrophages and dendritic cells, in response to primary inflammatory signals (e.g. interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumour necrosis factor (TNF), lipopolysaccharide (LPS)). It binds diverse ligands, including microbial moieties, C1q and apoptotic cells. Evidence suggests that PTX3 plays a role in the regulation of innate resistance to pathogens, inflammatory reactions, possibly clearance of self-components and female fertility.

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