Gysemans Conny, Beya Mateson, Pedace Erika, Mathieu Chantal
Leuven Diabetes Lab, Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology (CEE), Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism (CHROMETA), KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Diabetes Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery, and Neurosciences, University of Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy.
Biomedicines. 2025 Mar 1;13(3):597. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13030597.
Neutrophils, the most abundant polymorphonuclear leukocytes, are critical first responders to infection, and have historically been underappreciated in terms of their functional complexity within the immune response. Once viewed primarily as short-lived, innate immune cells with limited functional plasticity, recent research has illuminated their considerable heterogeneity and diverse functional roles, which extend beyond their involvement in steady-state immunity. This review seeks to provide an updated analysis of neutrophil development, maturation, heterogeneity, and plasticity, with a focus on how these characteristics influence immune modulation in both healthy and diseased tissues. Beginning with the origin of neutrophils, we explore their maturation into effector cells and their evolving roles in immune defense under homeostatic and disease-associated conditions. We then delve into their heterogeneity, discussing recent breakthroughs in neutrophil research that challenge the traditional view of neutrophils as a uniform population. We address the significant advances that have been made in identifying distinct neutrophil subsets, the emerging complexities of their plasticity, and the challenges that remain in fully understanding their functional diversity. Finally, we highlight future directions and opportunities for continued exploration in this rapidly advancing field, shedding light on how these insights could open new avenues for therapeutic interventions.
中性粒细胞是最丰富的多形核白细胞，是感染的关键第一反应者，在免疫反应中其功能复杂性在历史上一直未得到充分重视。中性粒细胞曾主要被视为功能可塑性有限的短命固有免疫细胞，而最近的研究揭示了它们相当大的异质性和多样的功能作用，这些作用超出了它们在稳态免疫中的参与程度。本综述旨在对中性粒细胞的发育、成熟、异质性和可塑性进行更新分析，重点关注这些特性如何影响健康组织和患病组织中的免疫调节。从中性粒细胞的起源开始，我们探讨它们成熟为效应细胞的过程以及它们在稳态和疾病相关条件下免疫防御中不断演变的作用。然后我们深入研究它们的异质性，讨论中性粒细胞研究中的最新突破，这些突破挑战了将中性粒细胞视为同质群体的传统观点。我们阐述了在识别不同中性粒细胞亚群方面取得的重大进展、它们可塑性的新出现的复杂性以及在充分理解其功能多样性方面仍然存在的挑战。最后，我们强调了在这个快速发展的领域中持续探索的未来方向和机会，阐明这些见解如何能够为治疗干预开辟新途径。
