Neutrophils, new on NET

The lecture was illustrated by a seminar entitled "Neutrophil Polynuclear Cells, New Developments in NET" given by Professor Arturo Zychlinsky (Max Planck Institut für Infektsionbiologie, Berlin). A few years ago, this international specialist in microbial pathogenesis and expert in the field of neutrophils discovered a new mechanism by which these phagocytic cells ensure their bactericidal activity: NETs for "Neutrophil Extracellular Trap". These structures correspond to the release of DNA by certain neutrophils dying from a never-before-described process of "netosis" induced by oxygen radicals. These DNA molecules are organized as a net (NET...) charged with potently antimicrobial cationic molecules, enabling the neutrophisle to deliver significant bactericidal activity in an extracellular mode that does not require phagocytosis. Numerous NETs are observed during infection of the pulmonary alveolus by bacteria or yeasts such as Candida albicans.