Open AccessNeutrophil extracellular traps, damage‐associated molecular patterns, and cell death during sepsis
Author(s) -
Iba Toshiaki,
Murai Miwa,
Nagaoka Isao,
Tabe Yoko
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acute medicine and surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2052-8817
DOI - 10.1002/ams2.10
Subject(s) - neutrophil extracellular traps , myeloperoxidase , proteases , histone , programmed cell death , biology , sepsis , dna damage , neutrophil elastase , pathogen , microbiology and biotechnology , elastase , extracellular , mechanism (biology) , antimicrobial peptides , immunology , apoptosis , inflammation , dna , antimicrobial , genetics , biochemistry , enzyme , philosophy , epistemology
In addition to pathogen‐associated molecular patterns from invasive microorganisms, alarmins, which are major components of host defense mechanisms, are involved in the pathophysiology of sepsis. In fact, the magnitude of the insult is defined according to the damage‐associated molecular pattern ( DAMP ), which is composed of alarmins as well as pathogen‐associated molecular patterns, such as those involving nucleosomes, histones, and DNA . Regarding the antimicrobial mechanism of neutrophils, an alternative non‐phagocytic mechanism was first recognized as “ NET osis” in 2004. In this mechanism, microorganisms are trapped and eliminated by neutrophil extracellular traps ( NET s). These NET s are composed of histones and DNA that have been expelled from the nucleus as well as antimicrobial proteases, including elastase and myeloperoxidase. NET osis, a cell death pathway reported to be distinct from apoptosis, is an active area of research. As NET s are composed of deleterious substances, they are extremely harmful to the host cells once they are released into the circulating blood. Therefore, the meanings and putative roles of these components in sepsis have attracted much attention.