Abstract
As the most abundant leukocytes in the circulation, neutrophils are committed to innate and adaptive immune effector function to protect the human body. They are capable of killing intruding microbes through various ways including phagocytosis, release of granules, and formation of extracellular traps. Recent research has revealed that neutrophils are heterogeneous in phenotype and function and can display outstanding plasticity in both homeostatic and disease states. The great flexibility and elasticity arm neutrophils with important regulatory and controlling functions in various disease states such as autoimmunity and inflammation as well as cancer. Hence, this review will focus on recent literature describing neutrophils' variable and diverse phenotypes and functions in different contexts.
Highlights
Neutrophils, considered as infantrymen in the innate immune system, are indispensable in safeguarding the human body against encroaching microbes
The neutrophils in draining lymph nodes play a direct role in phagocytic killing and protect against pathogens via noncell autonomous mechanisms including the release of NETs, producing matrix metalloproteases and participating in tissue remodeling [53], but the further impact of macrophages removed by neutrophils remains unknown
It seems that CD11b+/Ly6G+ tumor-associated neutrophils (TAN) in metastases tend to be N2 phenotype. This effect can be reversed by TGF-β blockade in the tumor microenvironment, which induces CD11b+/Ly6G+ neutrophils to display an antitumor phenotype [131]. These findings indicate that the phenotype of TAN may be altered artificially from N2 to N1, depending on the tumor microenvironment, manifesting the remarkable flexibility and heterogeneity of neutrophils
Summary
Neutrophils, considered as infantrymen in the innate immune system, are indispensable in safeguarding the human body against encroaching microbes. As precursor leukocytes to be enlisted in inflammatory sites [1], neutrophils possess the capacity of both intra- and extracellular mechanisms [2, 3] to eliminate pathogens. Their very singular features, such as short lifespan and lower transcriptional activity, have led to the overly simplistic perception that neutrophils are homogenous with limited phenotypic heterogeneity. This classical view has been greatly challenged since different phenotypes have been reported in both healthy and pathologic conditions. We describe the elasticity of neutrophils and discuss their multiple phenotypes and functions
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