In addition to the established activation of the lectin pathway via MBL and MASPs, it was demonstrated that ficolins were also capable of initiating the lectin pathway by forming active complexes with MASPs. There are three distinct ficolins named ficolin-1 (M-ficolin), ficolin-2 (L-ficolin) and ficolin-3 (H-ficolin or Hakata antigen). Structurally homologous to the collectin MBL as well as C1q, ficolins are soluble collagen-like proteins that bind to sugar structures presented on microorganisms and dying host cells and consequently activate the innate immune system (8, 10, (21) (22) (23) .