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Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: How to Generate and Visualize Them

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Published on: February 24, 2010

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Formation and Aggregation Orchestrate Induction and Resolution of Sterile

Yanhong Li¹, Xue Cao¹, Yi Liu¹

¹Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Frontiers in Immunology

|July 24, 2018

Abstract:

The formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) to immobilize pathogens represents a novel antimicrobial strategy of the immune system. The microcrystals related to human diseases are classified into endogenous microcrystals, including monosodium urate (MSU), calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate, calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, calcium oxalate, cholesterol, and exogenous material like crystals from silica. Although microcrystals possess distinct compositions and shapes, they have a common characteristic: they stimulate neutrophils to release NETs. In low and high densities, neutrophils form NETs and aggregated NETs (aggNETs) that reportedly orchestrate the initiation and resolution of sterile crystal-mediated inflammation, respectively. Here, we summarize the different roles of NETs and aggNETs stimulated by the crystals mentioned above in related inflammatory reactions. The NETosis-derived products may represent a potential therapeutic target in crystal-mediated diseases.

Keywords:

aggregated neutrophil extracellular traps inflammation neutrophil neutrophil extracellular traps sterile crystal

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