Neutrophils: Molecules, Functions and Pathophysiological Aspects

Cell movement is essential during embryogenesis to establish tissue patterns and to drive morphogenetic pathways and in the adult for tissue repair and to direct cells to sites of infection. Animal cells move by crawling and the driving force is derived primarily from the coordinated assembly and disassembly of actin filaments. The small GTPases, Rho, Rac, and Cdc42, regulate the organization of actin filaments and we have analyzed their contributions to the movement of primary embryo fibroblasts in an in vitro wound healing assay. Rac is essential for the protrusion of lamellipodia and for forward movement. Cdc42 is required to maintain cell polarity, which includes the localization of lamellipodial activity to the leading edge and the reorientation of the Golgi apparatus in the direction of movement. Rho is required to maintain cell adhesion during movement, but stress fibers and focal adhesions are not required. Finally, Ras regulates focal adhesion and stress fiber turnover and this is essential for cell movement. We conclude that the signal transduction pathways controlled by the four small GTPases, Rho, Rac, Cdc42, and Ras, cooperate to promote cell movement.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a recessive disorder characterized by a defective phagocyte respiratory burst oxidase, life-threatening pyogenic infections and inflammatory granulomas. Gene targeting was used to generate mice with a null allele of the gene involved in X-linked CGD, which encodes the 91 kD subunit of the oxidase cytochrome b. Affected hemizygous male mice lacked phagocyte superoxide production, manifested an increased susceptibility to infection with Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus fumigatus and had an altered inflammatory response in thioglycollate peritonitis. This animal model should aid in developing new treatments for CGD and in evaluating the role of phagocyte-derived oxidants in inflammation.

Interleukin-8 (IL-8) belongs to a family of small, structurally related cytokines similar to platelet factor 4. It is produced by phagocytes and mesenchymal cells exposed to inflammatory stimuli (e.g., interleukin-1 or tumor necrosis factor) and activates neutrophils inducing chemotaxis, exocytosis and the respiratory burst. In vivo, IL-8 elicits a massive neutrophil accumulation at the site of injection. Five neutrophil-activating cytokines similar to IL-8 in structure and function have been identified recently. IL-8 and the related cytokines are produced in several tissues upon infection, inflammation, ischemia, trauma etc., and are thought to be the main cause of local neutrophil accumulation.