DISCOVERY OF THE NEUTROPHIL EXTRACELLULAR TRAPS BEGINS A NEW STAGE IN THE STUDY OF NEUTROPHIL MORPHOGENESIS AND FUNCTION

Abstract

The purpose of the present review was to analyze the accumulating evidence regarding recently discovered novel defense mechanism of neutrophils - capacity to form neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Contact with pathogenic microbes and/or exposure to proinflammatory cytokines trigger the respiratory burst in the neutrophils with a subsequent initiation of a cell death (NETosis) which differs from apoptosis and necrosis. NETs are formed by the fibrils of decondensed chromatin (DNA/ histones), released from the neutrophil, which is closely associated with the antimicrobial proteins of cytoplasmic granules. Due to its three-dimensional structure, NETs are capable of retaining the microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and protozoa), while high local concentration of the antimicrobial substances provides their killing. The review presents the evidence of a potential defensive role of NETs in infectious diseases, traumas and surgical operations, as well as during the early stage of a repair process. Considering the role played by neutrophils in the immune response orientation via pentraxin-3 (PTX3), including the switching to adaptive immunity, it is necessary to study the subsequent interaction of DNA/histone exrtacellular structures with the tissue microenvironment.

Keywords

neutrophil granulocytes / extracellular neutrophil traps (NETs)

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