Neutrophil

Characteristics

Neutrophil granulocytes have an average diameter of 12-15 micrometers (µm) in peripheral blood smears. When analyzing neutrophils in suspension, neutrophils have an average diameter of 8.85 µm.

With the eosinophil and the basophil, they form the class of polymorphonuclear cells, named for the nucleus' multilobulated shape (as compared to lymphocytes and monocytes, the other types of white cells). The nucleus has a characteristic lobed appearance, the separate lobes connected by chromatin. The nucleolus disappears as the neutrophil matures, which is something that happens in only a few other types of nucleated cells. In the cytoplasm, the Golgi apparatus is small, mitochondria and ribosomes are sparse, and the rough endoplasmic reticulum is absent. The cytoplasm also contains about 200 granules, of which a third are azurophilic.

Neutrophils are sexually dimorphic. Neutrophils from women exhibit a small additional X chromosome structure, known as a "neutrophil drumstick".

Neutrophils will show increasing segmentation (many segments of nucleus) as they mature. A normal neutrophil should have 3-5 segments. Hypersegmentation is not normal, and occurs in some disorders, most notably vitamin B₁₂ deficiency. This is noted on a manual review of the blood smear, and is positive when most or all of the neutrophils have 5 or more segments.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in humans (approximately 10¹¹ are produced daily); they account for approximately 50-70% of all white blood cells (leukocytes). The stated normal range for human blood counts varies between laboratories, but a neutrophil count of 2.5–7.5 x 10⁹/L is a standard normal range. People of African and Middle Eastern descent may have lower counts, which are still normal. A report may divide neutrophils into segmented neutrophils and bands.

When circulating in the bloodstream and inactivated, neutrophils are spherical. Once activated, they change shape and become more amorphous or amoeba-like and can extend pseudopods as they hunt for antigens.

Neutrophils have a preference to engulf refined carbohydrates (glucose, fructose, sucrose, honey, and orange juice) over bacteria. In 1973 Sanchez et al. found that the neutrophil phagocytic capacity to engulf bacteria is affected when simple sugars are digested, and that fasting strengthens the neutrophils' phagocytic capacity to engulf bacteria. However, the digestion of normal starches has no effect. It was concluded that the function, and not the number, of phagocytes in engulfing bacteria was altered by the ingestion of sugars. In 2007 researchers at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research found that given a selection of sugars, neutrophils engulf some types of sugar preferentially.

Life span

The average lifespan of inactivated human neutrophils in the circulation has been reported by different approaches to be between 5 and 90 hours. Upon activation, they marginate (position themselves adjacent to the blood vessel endothelium) and undergo selectin-dependent capture followed by integrin-dependent adhesion in most cases, after which they migrate into tissues, where they survive for 1–2 days.

Neutrophils are much more numerous than the longer-lived monocyte/macrophage phagocytes. A pathogen (disease-causing microorganism or virus) is likely to first encounter a neutrophil. Some experts hypothesize that the short lifetime of neutrophils is an evolutionary adaptation. The short lifetime of neutrophils minimizes propagation of those pathogens that parasitize phagocytes because the more time such parasites spend outside a host cell, the more likely they will be destroyed by some component of the body's defenses. Also, because neutrophil antimicrobial products can also damage host tissues, their short life limits damage to the host during inflammation.

Neutrophils will often be phagocytosised by macrophages after digestion of pathogens. PECAM-1 and phosphatidylserine on the cell surface are involved in this process.

Chemotaxis

Neutrophils undergo a process called chemotaxis via amoeboid movement, which allows them to migrate toward sites of infection or inflammation. Cell surface receptors allow neutrophils to detect chemical gradients of molecules such as interleukin-8 (IL-8), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), C3a, C5a, and Leukotriene B4, which these cells use to direct the path of their migration.

Neutrophils have a variety of specific receptors, including ones for complement, cytokines like interleukins and IFN-γ, chemokines, lectins, and other proteins. They also express receptors to detect and adhere to endothelium and Fc receptors for opsonin.

In leukocytes responding to a chemoattractant, the cellular polarity is regulated by activities of small Rho guanosine triphosphatases (Rho GTPases) and the phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks). In neutrophils, lipid products of PI3Ks regulate activation of Rho GTPases and are required for cell motility. They accumulate asymmetrically to the plasma membrane at the leading edge of polarized cells. Spatially regulating Rho GTPases and organizing the leading edge of the cell, PI3Ks and their lipid products could play pivotal roles in establishing leukocyte polarity, as compass molecules that tell the cell where to crawl.

Anti-microbial function

Being highly motile, neutrophils quickly congregate at a focus of infection, attracted by cytokines expressed by activated endothelium, mast cells, and macrophages. Neutrophils express and release cytokines, which in turn amplify inflammatory reactions by several other cell types.

In addition to recruiting and activating other cells of the immune system, neutrophils play a key role in the front-line defense against invading pathogens. Neutrophils have three methods for directly attacking micro-organisms: phagocytosis (ingestion), degranulation (release of soluble anti-microbials), and generation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs).

Phagocytosis

Neutrophils are phagocytes, capable of ingesting microorganisms or particles. For targets to be recognized, they must be coated in opsonins—a process known as antibody opsonization. They can internalize and kill many microbes, each phagocytic event resulting in the formation of a phagosome into which reactive oxygen species and hydrolytic enzymes are secreted. The consumption of oxygen during the generation of reactive oxygen species has been termed the "respiratory burst", although unrelated to respiration or energy production.

The respiratory burst involves the activation of the enzyme NADPH oxidase, which produces large quantities of superoxide, a reactive oxygen species. Superoxide decays spontaneously or is broken down via enzymes known as superoxide dismutases (Cu/ZnSOD and MnSOD), to hydrogen peroxide, which is then converted to hypochlorous acid (HClO), by the green heme enzyme myeloperoxidase. It is thought that the bactericidal properties of HClO are enough to kill bacteria phagocytosed by the neutrophil, but this may instead be a step necessary for the activation of proteases.

Degranulation

Neutrophils also release an assortment of proteins in three types of granules by a process called degranulation. The contents of these granules have antimicrobial properties, and help combat infection.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs)

In 2004, Brinkmann and colleagues described a striking observation that activation of neutrophils causes the release of web-like structures of DNA; this represents a third mechanism for killing bacteria. These neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) comprise a web of fibers composed of chromatin and serine proteases that trap and kill extracellular microbes. It is suggested that NETs provide a high local concentration of antimicrobial components and bind, disarm, and kill microbes independent of phagocytic uptake. In addition to their possible antimicrobial properties, NETs may serve as a physical barrier that prevents further spread of pathogens. Trapping of bacteria may be a particularly important role for NETs in sepsis, where NETs are formed within blood vessels. Recently, NETs have been shown to play a role in inflammatory diseases, as NETs could be detected in preeclampsia, a pregnancy-related inflammatory disorder in which neutrophils are known to be activated. In addition, NETs are known to exhibit pro-thrombotic effects both in vitro and in vivo.

Role in disease

Low neutrophil counts are termed neutropenia. This can be congenital (developed at or before birth) or it can develop later, as in the case of aplastic anemia or some kinds of leukemia. It can also be a side-effect of medication, most prominently chemotherapy. Neutropenia makes an individual highly susceptible to infections. It can also be the result of colonization by intracellular neutrophilic parasites.

In alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, the important neutrophil enzyme elastase is not adequately inhibited by alpha 1-antitrypsin, leading to excessive tissue damage in the presence of inflammation – the most prominent one being pulmonary emphysema.

In Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), a mutation in the pyrin (or marenostrin) gene, which is expressed mainly in neutrophil granulocytes, leads to a constitutively active acute-phase response and causes attacks of fever, arthralgia, peritonitis, and – eventually – amyloidosis.

Decreases in neutrophil function have been linked to hyperglycemia. Dysfunction in the neutrophil biochemical pathway myeloperoxidase as well as reduced degranulation are associated with hyperglycemia.

The Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) is also used in diagnosis and prognosis. ANC is the gold standard for determining severity of neutropenia, and thus neutropenic fever. Any ANC < 1500 cells / mm³ is considered neutropenia, but <500 cells / mm³ is considered severe. There is also new research tying ANC to myocardial infarction as an aid in early diagnosis.

Neutrophil antigens

There are five (HNA 1-5) sets of neutrophil antigens recognized. The three HNA-1 antigens (a-c) are located on the low affinity Fc-γ receptor IIIb (FCGR3B :CD16b) The single known HNA-2a antigen is located on CD177. The HNA-3 antigen system has two antigens (3a and 3b) which are located on the seventh exon of the CLT2 gene (SLC44A2). The HNA-4 and HNA-5 antigen systems each have two known antigens (a and b) and are located in the β2 integrin. HNA-4 is located on the αM chain (CD11b) and HNA-5 is located on the αL integrin unit (CD11a).

[1] Neutrophils display highly directional amoeboid motility in infected footpad and phalanges. Intravital imaging was performed in the footpad path of LysM-eGFP mice 20 minutes after infection with Listeria monocytogenes.