Fig. 3. Mouse MBL-A and ficolin-A attenuate LPS-mediated IL-6 production through direct binding to LPS, but not through TLR4 on mBMMCs. (A) LPS (200 ng/ml, smooth type from E. coli serotype O4) was pre-incubated with mouse MBL-A (1,000 ng/ml) or ficolin-A (1,000 ng/ml) prior to stimulation of mBMMCs. (B) Simultaneously, mBMMCs were pre-incubated with mouse MBL-A or ficolin-A before stimulation with LPS. mIL-6 levels in the supernatants were determined by ELISA. Data are represented as means ± S.D. from triplicate experiments. Results are representative of three independent experiments that yield similar results. Asterisk indicates the statistical significance versus controls: *P ＜ 0.01.