The mannose receptor is a pattern recognition receptor involved in host defense.

The mannose receptor recognizes the patterns of carbohydrates that decorate the surfaces and cell walls of infectious agents. This macrophage and dendritic cell pattern-recognition receptor mediates endocytosis and phagocytosis. The mannose receptor is the prototype of a new family of multilectin receptor proteins (membrane-spanning receptors containing eight-ten lectin-like domains, which appear to play a key role in host defense) and provides a link between innate and adaptive immunity. Recent advances include the identification of three new members of the mannose receptor family, additional work on defining the molecular requirements for sugar binding, a role for the mannose receptor in antigen presentation of lipoglycan antigens and evidence that the mannose receptor is associated with a signal transduction pathway leading to cytokine production.