LTF and streptococcal pneumonia: It has been shown that iron-free LF, apolactoferrin (apo-LF), binds to a common colonizer of the human nasopharynx, Streptococcus pneumonia, via its surface protein A (PspA) and concomitant addition of apo-LF to lytic lysozyme evokes synergistic pneumococcal killing [75].