Scapini Patrizia, Bazzoni Flavia, Cassatella Marco A
Department of Pathology, Division of General Pathology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Immunol Lett. 2008 Feb 15;116(1):1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.imlet.2007.11.009. Epub 2007 Dec 7.
The expression and production of cytokines by cells of the innate immune system, including monocytes/macrophages, dendritic and NK cells, play a critical role not only in defensive and inflammatory but also in immunoregulatory and anti-/pro-tumoral processes. Studies performed in the last years have well ascertained that polymorphonuclear neutrophils can also be induced to express and produce chemokines, proinflammatory, anti-inflammatory, immunoregulatory, angiogenic and fibrogenic cytokines, as well as ligands belonging to the TNF superfamily. Among the latter group of molecules, B-cell-activating factor (BAFF)/B lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS), known to be essential for B lymphocyte homeostasis and related pathologies, has recently been identified as one of the factors potentially expressed by human neutrophils. The addition of this novel TNF superfamily member, and more recently also of the closely related "A Proliferation-Inducing Ligand" (APRIL), to the list of cytokines produced by neutrophils not only testifies to the continuous growth of this area of investigation, but also implies the involvement of neutrophils in B-cell-dependent autoimmune diseases and tumors.
天然免疫系统的细胞，包括单核细胞/巨噬细胞、树突状细胞和自然杀伤细胞，其细胞因子的表达和产生不仅在防御和炎症过程中，而且在免疫调节以及抗肿瘤/促肿瘤过程中都发挥着关键作用。过去几年进行的研究已充分证实，多形核中性粒细胞也可被诱导表达和产生趋化因子、促炎、抗炎、免疫调节、血管生成和促纤维化细胞因子，以及属于肿瘤坏死因子超家族的配体。在后者这组分子中，已知对B淋巴细胞稳态及相关病理至关重要的B细胞活化因子（BAFF）/B淋巴细胞刺激因子（BLyS），最近已被确定为人类中性粒细胞可能表达的因子之一。将这个新的肿瘤坏死因子超家族成员，以及最近与之密切相关的“增殖诱导配体”（APRIL），添加到中性粒细胞产生的细胞因子列表中，不仅证明了该研究领域的不断发展，也意味着中性粒细胞参与了B细胞依赖性自身免疫疾病和肿瘤。
