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Fig. 3 | Journal of Translational Medicine

Fig. 3

From: Immune modulation of some autoimmune diseases: the critical role of macrophages and neutrophils in the innate and adaptive immunity

Fig. 3

Neutrophil extracellular traps. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are composed of nuclear components (such as DNA and histones) and are decorated by proteins from primary granules (such as myeloperoxidase and neutrophil elastase), secondary granules (such as lactoferrin and pentraxin 3), and tertiary granules. NETs have been shown to trap microorganisms. Initially, the neutrophils become rounded with uniformly condensed chromatin, occurs because of PAD-4-mediated citrullination of histones, and then undergo nuclear envelope breakdown so DNA-containing vesicles eventually fuse with the plasma membrane, and NETs are released to trap microorganism. NETs can cause development of autoimmune disorders trough molecules present in the NET or the degradation products of NETs by DNAse I can act as auto-antigen or because excessive formation of degradation failure of NETs. Font: Adapted by [71], Mantovani et al. [72] and Phillipson and Kubes [245]

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