What Role Do Neutrophils Play in Infectious Disease?
Neutrophils are both the most abundant immune cells and the first to go to a site of infection. In this video, ARTURO ZYCHLINSKY explores the role that Neutrophils play in infectious disease. Zychlinsky explains that Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (or NETs) kill and prevent the dissemination of microbes while also alerting other parts of the immune system to infection. Revealing some of the processes involved in NET formation, Zychlinsky demonstrates that, depending on the type of disease, NETs can play either a beneficial or a deleterious role. With NET’s relevance extending beyond infectious disease to conditions including cancer and cardiovascular disease, Zychlinsky’s work has opened up a fertile field of exploration for research labs worldwide.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10840Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology
The Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology focuses on understanding how microbes cause disease and how hosts respond to this challenge. Its mission is to understand infections by viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and worms of two reasons: they present one of the most significant medical burdens on earth and the interaction between microbes and their host are an essential driver of evolution. To find answers to the fundamental questions of infection biology, the MPIIB brings together scientists from various disciplines. Hence the scale of the MPIIB research spans through the atomic, molecular, cellular, tissular, organismal, clinical and finally social level. The Institute is located at the historical Campus of the Charité Clinic in the heart of Berlin.
Original Publication
Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: The Biology of Chromatin Externalization
Gabriel Sollberger
,Dorothea Ogmore Tilley
,Arturo Zychlinsky
Published in 2018