Interaction of short pentraxin CRP with FGF2. Wells coated with FGF2 (270 nM) were incubated with bPTX3 (22 nM) in the absence or in the presence of increasing concentrations of unlabeled PTX3 (•) or CRP (○). The amount of bPTX3 bound to immobilized FGF2 was then measured and data were expressed as percentage of binding measured in the absence of any competitor. In parallel, GM 7373 cells were treated with FGF2 in the absence or in the presence of increasing concentrations of PTX3 (▪) or CRP (□). Cells were then counted and data were expressed as percentage of the increase in cell proliferation in respect to cells treated with FGF2 alone. Each point is the mean ± SEM of 3 determinations in duplicate.