Functional interactions between rM-ficolin and fungal polysaccharides. (A) Concentration-dependent rM-ficolin-mediated chitin complement C4 consumption assay and complement C4b generation assays for (B) β-1,3 glucan, (C) A. fumigatus AIF and (D) acHSA (control). Dry weight (mg) of A. fumigatus (E) NRRL 174 and (F) SZMC 2430 cultures before and after an 8-hours incubation in 50% MBL-deficient serum and in the presence of various concentrations (0–1500 ng/ml) of rM-ficolin. (G) IL-8 secretion in A549 cell CS collected 6 hours after challenge with rM-ficolin alone or after incubation with A. fumigatus AIF or increasing concentrations of rM-ficolin opsonized A. fumigatus AIF. Blank control = serum free medium. The data shown are mean ± SEM of quadruplicate measurements representative of 2 (A) and duplicates from 3 (B-G) independent experiments, *p < 0.5, ##, $$p < 0.01, ***, $$$p < 0.001. *relative to background, #relative to A. fumigatus AIF control, $relative to rM-ficolin control.