The Diverse Biological Functions of Neutrophils, Beyond the Defense Against Infections.
Polymorphonuclear neutrophils are among the first defense against infection and closely involved in the initiation of inflammatory response. It is well recognized that this function of neutrophils was mainly mediated by phagocytosis, intracellular degradation, releasing of granules, and formation of neutrophil extracellular traps after sensing dangerous stress. However, accumulating data showed that neutrophils had a variety of important biological functions in both innate and adaptive immunities, far beyond cytotoxicity against pathogens. Neutrophils can differentially switch phenotypes and display distinct subpopulations under different microenvironments. Neutrophils can produce a large variety of cytokines and chemokines upon stimulation. Furthermore, neutrophils directly interact with dendritic cells (DCs), macrophages, natural killer cells, T cells, and B cells so as to either potentiate or down-modulate both innate and adaptive immunity. In the present review, we summarize the recent progress on the functional plasticity and the regulatory ability on immunity of neutrophils in physiological and pathological situations.
Transplantation Biology Research Division, State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichen West Road 1-5, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China.
Fan
F
Yang
Transplantation Biology Research Division, State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichen West Road 1-5, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China.
Chang
C
Feng
Department of Urology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Xiaodong
X
Zhang
Hepatology and Cancer Biotherapy Ward, Beijing YouAn Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China. lujun98@ccmu.edu.cn.
Jun
J
Lu
Transplantation Biology Research Division, State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichen West Road 1-5, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China. zhaoy@ioz.ac.cn.
Yong
Y
Zhao
D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology
cell polarization; cytokines; immune cell subsets; inflammation; myeloid-derived suppressive cells; neutrophils