Neutrophils In Health And Disease

Neutrophils are members of the innate system, they do not possess numerous clonal receptors specific for everything foreign rather they act in a quick manner by recognizing pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) through their germ line encoded Toll like receptors (TLRs). Bacterial killing is one of the important functions of neutrophils. This protective mechanism usually occurs through phagocytosis or uptake of individual pathogens. Another mechanism of bacterial killing utilized by neutrophils is degranulation, a process in which neutrophils release their prestored granule contents to outside environment in order to kill target cells.