Ficolin


Ficolins are a group of oligomeric lectins with subunits consisting of both collagen -like long thin stretches and fibrinogen -like globular domains with lectin activity usually specific for N-acetylglucosamine. Like collectins such as mannan-binding lectin, ficolins are secreted, lectin-type pattern recognition receptors, and similarly activate the lectin pathway of complement activation.
Examples of human ficolins include:
  1. FCN1
  2. FCN2
  3. FCN3
Immunologist Jeak L. Ding and her team found that natural IgG is not quiescent, but plays a crucial role in immediate immune defense by collaborating with ficolin.