Regulation of leucocyte homeostasis in the circulation.
The functions of blood cells extend well beyond the immune functions of leucocytes or the respiratory and hemostatic functions of erythrocytes and platelets. Seen as a whole, the bloodstream is in charge of nurturing and protecting all organs by carrying a mixture of cell populations in transit from one organ to another. To optimize these functions, evolution has provided blood and the vascular system that carries it with various mechanisms that ensure the appropriate influx and egress of cells into and from the circulation where and when needed. How this homeostatic control of blood is achieved has been the object of study for over a century, and although the major mechanisms that govern it are now fairly well understood, several new concepts and mediators have recently emerged that emphasize the dynamism of this liquid tissue. Here we review old and new concepts that relate to the maintenance and regulation of leucocyte homeostasis in blood and briefly discuss the mechanisms for platelets and red blood cells.
Walter-Brendel-Center of Experimental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich 81377, Germany christoph.scheiermann@med.uni-muenchen.de ahidalgo@cnic.es.
Christoph
C
Scheiermann
Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Paul S
PS
Frenette
Department of Atherothrombosis, Imaging and Epidemiology, Fundación Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC), Madrid 28029, Spain Institut für Prophylaxe und Epidemiologie der Kreislaufkrankheiten (IPEK), Munich 80336, Germany christoph.scheiermann@med.uni-muenchen.de ahidalgo@cnic.es.
Andrés
A
Hidalgo
D000818:Animals; D001775:Blood Circulation; D002465:Cell Movement; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000378:metabolism; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000502:physiology*
D002784:Cholesterol
Cholesterol metabolism; Leucocyte homeostasis; Leucocyte mobilization; Leucocyte recruitment