Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Author Spotlight: Unraveling Bacterial Responses to Antibiotics and Immune System in Tissues
08:01

Author Spotlight: Unraveling Bacterial Responses to Antibiotics and Immune System in Tissues

Published on: March 1, 2024

1.4K

Neutrophil apoptosis and the resolution of infection

Adam D Kennedy1, Frank R DeLeo

  • 1Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 South 4th Street, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA.

Immunologic Research
|December 11, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), crucial for innate immunity, normally undergo apoptosis after ingesting microbes, aiding infection resolution. However, some bacteria manipulate PMN apoptosis to survive and cause disease.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) are vital immune cells, first responders to infection and inflammation.
  • PMNs kill microbes via reactive oxygen species and phagocytosis, a process that typically triggers their apoptosis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the process of PMN apoptosis.
  • To explore how microorganisms, particularly bacterial pathogens, can alter PMN apoptosis.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on PMN apoptosis and microbial interactions.
  • Analysis of mechanisms by which bacteria influence neutrophil programmed cell death.

Main Results:

  • PMN apoptosis is a key mechanism for resolving infections.
  • Certain bacterial pathogens have evolved strategies to evade or manipulate PMN apoptosis, promoting their survival and pathogenesis.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding the interplay between microbial manipulation and PMN apoptosis is crucial for developing new therapeutic strategies.
  • Targeting bacterial modulation of neutrophil apoptosis may offer novel approaches to combat infectious diseases.

More Related Videos

Direct Observation of Phagocytosis and NET-formation by Neutrophils in Infected Lungs using 2-photon Microscopy08:50

Direct Observation of Phagocytosis and NET-formation by Neutrophils in Infected Lungs using 2-photon Microscopy

Published on: June 2, 2011

21.3K
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: How to Generate and Visualize Them14:17

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: How to Generate and Visualize Them

Published on: February 24, 2010

88.2K

Related Concept Videos

Apoptosis01:30

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a combination of two Greek words, 'apo' and 'ptosis,' meaning separation and falling off, respectively. Hippocrates used this word to describe gangrene, which was caused due to bandaging of fractured bones. Apoptosis was distinguished from necrosis in 1970 when John Kerr reported observations of morphological changes occurring during apoptosis. During one experiment, he observed that the disruption of blood supply to the liver tissue resulted in a size...
15.1K
Chromatographic Resolution01:15

Chromatographic Resolution

In chromatography, a solute moves through a chromatographic column and tends to spread, forming a Gaussian-shaped band. The longer the solute spends in the column, the broader the band becomes. The broadening can lead to overlaps within the column, affecting separation effectiveness.
The effectiveness of separation can be evaluated by determining the level of separation between two neighboring peaks in a chromatogram, which represents the individual components of a sample.
In chromatography,...
2.2K
Infection01:20

Infection

When a pathogen enters the body and reproduces, it can cause an infection, damage body cells, and cause illness symptoms that eventually lead to disease. Therefore, its prevention requires breaking the chain of infection.
The chain begins with pathogens: bacteria, viruses, fungi, prions, or parasites such as protozoa helminths. These can be present on the skin as transient or resident flora, or they can be acquired from the environment. Identifying and treating the type of infection and...
12.6K
Stages of Infection01:26

Stages of Infection

Stages of infection describe what happens to a susceptible host once a pathogen invades the human body. The stages of infection are incubation, prodromal, illness, stage of decline, and convalescence. The incubation stage is the period from exposure to a pathogen until symptoms start. The infected person is unaware of impending illness as the pathogens grow and multiply within the body. The duration may vary depending on the type of infection. The incubation period of measles averages ten to...
65.3K
Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy01:37

Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy

Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (SRFM) provides a better resolution than conventional fluorescence microscopy by reducing the point spread function (PSF). PSF is the light intensity distribution from a point that causes it to appear blurred. Due to PSF, each fluorescing point appears bigger than its actual size, and it is the PSF interference of nearby fluorophores that causes the blurred image. Various approaches to achieving higher resolution through SRFM have recently been...
14.6K
Racemic Mixtures and the Resolution of Enantiomers02:30

Racemic Mixtures and the Resolution of Enantiomers

A racemic mixture, or racemate, is an equimolar mixture of enantiomers of a molecule that can be separated using their unique interaction with chiral molecules or media. Racemic mixtures are denoted by the (±)- prefix. This ‘optical rotation descriptor’ applies to the whole solution of a racemic mixture rather than a specific stereoisomer. Enantiomers typically have the same physical and chemical properties. Hence, they are not easily separable. However, enantiomers can exhibit...
21.8K