About the Authors

Bianca Beghé

Contributed equally to this work with: Bianca Beghé, Alessia Verduri

Affiliation Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

Alessia Verduri

Contributed equally to this work with: Bianca Beghé, Alessia Verduri

Affiliation Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

Barbara Bottazzi

Affiliation Laboratory of Research in Immunology and Inflammation, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano, and Department of Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

Mariarita Stendardo

Affiliation Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

Alessandro Fucili

Affiliation Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

Sara Balduzzi

Affiliation Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

Chiara Leuzzi

Affiliation Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

Alberto Papi

Affiliation Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

Alberto Mantovani

Affiliation Laboratory of Research in Immunology and Inflammation, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano, and Department of Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

Leonardo M. Fabbri

Affiliation Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

Claudio Ceconi

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

Piera Boschetto

bsp@unife.it

These authors also contributed equally to this work.

Affiliation Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

Competing Interests

The authors have reported the following conflicts of interest: AP is on the Chiesi, AstraZeneca, and Zambon Boards; has received consultancy fees from Chiesi, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Zambon; has received research support from Chiesi, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Sharp & Dome; and has received lecture fees from Chiesi, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Sharp & Dome, Menarini, and Novartis. Dr LMF received payment for consultancy from: Almirall, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi Farmaceutici, Euromediform, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharp & Dhome, Mundipharma International, Novartis, Nycomed, Parexel, Pearl Therapeutics, Sigma-Tau, Sterna, Peer Voice Europe, OM Pharma Sa, TEVA; payment for lectures, advisory boards or travel expenses reimbursements from: AstraZeneca, Dey Pharma, Grünenthal GmbH, Mundipharma International, Novartis, Sigma-Tau, Roche, Genetech Inc, Elevation Pharmaceutical, Ferrer Group; his institution received grants from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi Farmaceutici, GlaxoSmithKline, Menarini Industrie Farmaceutiche, Merck Sharp & Dhome, Novartis, Nycomed, Roche, SigmaTau, Pfizer, Italian Ministry for University and Research, Italian Ministry of Health. Dr B. Beghè received payment for lectures or travel expense reimbursements from AstraZeneca, Menarini, Chiesi Farmaceutici, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International GmbH; and payment for development of educational presentations from Takeda Pharmaceuticals International GmbH. Dr. AM and Dr. B. Bottazzi are inventors on patents related to the therapeutic and diagnostic use of PTX3. Their institution receives royalties related to marketing of PTX3-related reagents. Dr. AF received payment for lectures, advisory boards or travel expenses reimbursements from AstraZeneca, Menarini, Chiesi Farmaceutici, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck, Merck Sharp & Dohme, SigmaTau, Pfizer, Novartis. The patent names and numbers that we refer to in the manuscript are: - US 2004/0137544 A1. PTX3 as an early prognostic indicator of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular pathologies. - WO 2005/106494 A2. Monoclonal antibodies, hybridomans, improved method for determining the protein PTX3 and kit for said determination. - US 8,003,109 B2. Pharmaceutical compositions containing the long pentraxin PTX3. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. The authors alone are responsible for the writing and the content of this paper.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: B. Beghè CC AM LMF PB AP. Performed the experiments: B. Beghè AV B. Bottazzi MS AF CL PB. Analyzed the data: B. Beghè AV SB B. Bottazzi LMF PB. Wrote the manuscript: B. Beghè AV B. Bottazzi LMF PB.