Recent advances on the crosstalk between neutrophils and B or T lymphocytes

Abstract

An increasing body of literature supports a role for neutrophils as players in the orchestration of adaptive immunity. During acute and chronic inflammatory conditions, neutrophils rapidly migrate not only to sites of inflammation, but also to draining lymph nodes and spleen, where they engage bidirectional interactions with B- and T-lymphocyte subsets. Accordingly, a relevant role of neutrophils in modulating B-cell responses under homeostatic conditions has recently emerged. Moreover, specialized immunoregulatory properties towards B or T cells acquired by distinct neutrophil populations, originating under pathological conditions, have been consistently described. In this article, we summarize the most recent data from human studies and murine models on the ability of neutrophils to modulate adaptive immune responses under physiological and pathological conditions and the mechanisms behind these processes.

Keywords: B cells; T cells; neutrophils.

Figure 1

Crosstalk between neutrophils with adaptive immune cells. The cartoon displays the adaptive immune cell types with which human/mouse normal or immunosuppressive/proinflammatory neutrophils establish stimulatory/inhibitory interactions, based on the current literature. Specifically: B cells, including marginal zone (MZ) B cells and CD5⁺ B cells; T cells, including invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, γδ T cells, CD8⁺ T cells, CD4⁺ T helper type 1 (Th1) cells, Th17 cells; Th2 cells and T regulatory (Treg) cells.