Neutrophils

Abstract

Neutrophils are essential components of the innate immune system. They participate in a variety of tissue reactions, including antimicrobial responses and damage repair. Neutrophils are exquisitely sensitive to migratory stimuli, which enables them to rapidly home into injured tissues, including the skin, where they exert their effector functions. The latter include the release of preformed mediators from granules, production of reactive oxygen species, and release of DNA traps into the extracellular space. Based on these activities, neutrophils play a crucial role in cutaneous immune responses, and patients with neutrophil defects are prone to bacterial and fungal skin infections. Nevertheless, neutrophils may also directly cause tissue damage, and are the driving force behind the pathology of a number of inflammatory skin conditions. This chapter describes the molecular mechanisms underlying neutrophil function in the skin, and reviews our current understanding of the role of neutrophils in cutaneous biology and disease.