Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Kill Bacteria
Abstract
Neutrophils engulf and kill bacteria when their antimicrobial granules fuse with the phagosome. Here, we describe that, upon activation, neutrophils release granule proteins and chromatin that together form extracellular fibers that bind Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. These neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) degrade virulence factors and kill bacteria. NETs are abundant in vivo in experimental dysentery and spontaneous human appendicitis, two examples of acute inflammation. NETs appear to be a form of innate response that binds microorganisms, prevents them from spreading, and ensures a high local concentration of antimicrobial agents to degrade virulence factors and kill bacteria.
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The gift of M. Monestier, Temple University, the monoclonal antibody against H2A-H2B-DNA, is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank the help of M. Ingersoll, B. Raupach, C. Scharff, C. Heinz, and members of the Department of Cellular Microbiology, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology. Supported in part by NIH grant AI037720.
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Published In
Science
Volume 303 | Issue 5663
5 March 2004
5 March 2004
Copyright
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 9 October 2003
Accepted: 24 December 2003
Published in print: 5 March 2004
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www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/303/5663/1532/DC1
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- Volker Brinkmann et al.
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