How monocytes guard the glomerulus

WA Muller - Proceedings of the National Academy of …, 2016 - National Acad Sciences
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2016National Acad Sciences
In most tissues the leukocyte response to inflammatory stimuli takes place in postcapillary
venules (1). Leukocytes and endothelial cells undergo a coordinated and stereotyped series
of increasingly tight adhesive interactions designed to capture leukocytes from the
bloodstream (2–5). This process generally culminates in migration of leukocytes across the
endothelial cells lining the postcapillary venules en route to the site of inflammation. Some
notable exceptions occur in specialized capillary beds, such as those that supply the …
In most tissues the leukocyte response to inflammatory stimuli takes place in postcapillary venules (1). Leukocytes and endothelial cells undergo a coordinated and stereotyped series of increasingly tight adhesive interactions designed to capture leukocytes from the bloodstream (2–5). This process generally culminates in migration of leukocytes across the endothelial cells lining the postcapillary venules en route to the site of inflammation. Some notable exceptions occur in specialized capillary beds, such as those that supply the pulmonary alveoli (6, 7) and those that comprise the renal glomerulus (8, 9). Hickey and colleagues recently used intravital microscopy to study the behavior of neutrophils and monocytes in murine glomeruli in the presence and absence of inflammation (9). The authors reported that neutrophils and monocytes normally spend extended periods of time (several minutes) stationary or crawling slowly within the renal capillary lumen. In the presence of local inflammatory stimuli, the duration of these interactions (dwell time) increased and the leukocytes showed signs of intravascular activation (9). In PNAS the group takes these observations to the next level, providing some mechanistic insight into these phenomena (10). The Finsterbusch et al. study sheds some light on how the inflammatory response is regulated in the glomerulus, and also raises some interesting questions for future research.
National Acad Sciences