Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is the most intensively studied human collectin. It is
recognized to be a versatile macro-molecule with many of the functional characteristics of
IgM, IgG and Clq. In the presence of calcium the protein can bind to a wide spectrum of
oligosaccharides through multiple lectin domains. Such binding to the repeating sugar
arrays on microbial sur-faces may result in direkt uptake by one or more collectin receptors
on phagocyte surface or may trigger the activation of a pro-serine protease complex (MASP …