β-Glucans are structural components of fungal cell walls which are involved in the immune
recognition of fungal pathogens and possess beneficial immunomodulatory activities in
isolated form. Here we have developed a soluble chimeric form of the major mammalian β-
glucan receptor, Dectin-1, and demonstrate its application for the detection and
characterisation of soluble and insoluble β-glucans, including fungal particles, using ELISA,
flow cytometric and fluorescence-based microscopy assays.