PTX3 and Sepsis: In a murine sepsis model, we observed significant differences in virulence in vivo between strains CI77 and CI79 correlating to sustained and elevated blood serum levels of an acute-phase small pattern recognition receptor known as PTX3; PTX3 possesses antimicrobial properties following challenge with strain CI79 (P. M. Ketter, M. N. Guentzel, B. Schaffer, M. Herzig, X. Wu, C. G. Fedyk, J. Yu, J. Jorgensen, J. P. Chambers, A. P. Cap, and B. P. Arulanandam, submitted for publication).