title: Pondering neutrophil extracellular traps with healthy skepticism.
abstract: The authors engage in a dialogue that evaluates critically the state of the study of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a phenomenon currently the object of considerable interest, with the goal of identifying those aspects that merit clarification in order to assign the process its proper place in our current understanding of cell biology. Since the seminal observations in the Zychlinsky laboratory that described the extrusion of filaments of nuclear DNA associated with histones and granule proteins from neutrophils stimulated in vitro, many investigators have examined the phenomenon of NET formation in numerous and diverse settings. However, an overview of work in this rapidly growing field prompts several fundamental questions about NETs, including their precise composition, the mechanisms by which they arise, their clinical relevance, and the interrelationship of those observed in vitro and in vivo. In this discussion, the authors challenge interpretation of data from some experimental settings and provide recommendations for specific studies that would address the concerns raised, improve understanding of the biological relevance of NETs, and strengthen the field.
authors.affiliation: Inflammation Program and Department of Internal Medicine, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, and Veterans Administration Medical Center, Iowa City, Iowa, 52240, USA. william-nauseef@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Nauseef
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Immunology Research Group, Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada. pkubes@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kubes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology; D016923:Cell Death; D004247:DNA / Q000097:blood; D065206:Extracellular Traps / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA