Methods to Detect Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Asthma.

Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) have the ability to regulate many aspects of asthma pathology. NETs can be detected either in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) or in lung biopsies. Here, we describe methods to quantify NETs in BALF, namely the quantification of cell-free DNA, or of myeloperoxidase (MPO) or neutrophil elastase (NE) complexed with cell-free DNA. We also explain how to detect NETs in lung biopsies by two distinct techniques. The first technique is based on quantification of the citrullinated form of histone 3 (Cit-H3 , a specific component of NET) by western blot on tissue protein extracts. The second technique is based on the visualization of extracellular structures composed of MPO co-localizing with Cit-H3 in tissue sections by confocal microscopy. Finally, we describe a method allowing for quantification of NET volume in lung sections.

Neutrophil extracellular traps infiltrate the lung airway, interstitial, and vascular compartments in severe COVID-19.

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 is causing a deadly and pandemic disease called coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). While SARS-CoV-2-triggered hyperinflammatory tissue-damaging and immunothrombotic responses are thought to be major causes of respiratory failure and death, how they relate to lung immunopathological changes remains unclear. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) can contribute to inflammation-associated lung damage, thrombosis, and fibrosis. However, whether NETs infiltrate particular compartments in severe COVID-19 lungs remains to be clarified. Here we analyzed postmortem lung specimens from four patients who succumbed to COVID-19 and four patients who died from a COVID-19-unrelated cause. We report the presence of NETs in the lungs of each COVID-19 patient. NETs were found in the airway compartment and neutrophil-rich inflammatory areas of the interstitium, while NET-prone primed neutrophils were present in arteriolar microthrombi. Our results support the hypothesis that NETs may represent drivers of severe pulmonary complications of COVID-19 and suggest that NET-targeting approaches could be considered for the treatment of uncontrolled tissue-damaging and thrombotic responses in COVID-19.

Locally instructed CXCR4hi neutrophils trigger environment-driven allergic asthma through the release of neutrophil extracellular traps.

Low exposure to microbial products, respiratory viral infections and air pollution are major risk factors for allergic asthma, yet the mechanistic links between such conditions and host susceptibility to type 2 allergic disorders remain unclear. Through the use of single-cell RNA sequencing, we characterized lung neutrophils in mice exposed to a pro-allergic low dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or a protective high dose of LPS before exposure to house dust mites. Unlike exposure to a high dose of LPS, exposure to a low dose of LPS instructed recruited neutrophils to upregulate their expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and to release neutrophil extracellular traps. Low-dose LPS-induced neutrophils and neutrophil extracellular traps potentiated the uptake of house dust mites by CD11b+Ly-6C+ dendritic cells and type 2 allergic airway inflammation in response to house dust mites. Neutrophil extracellular traps derived from CXCR4hi neutrophils were also needed to mediate allergic asthma triggered by infection with influenza virus or exposure to ozone. Our study indicates that apparently unrelated environmental risk factors can shape recruited lung neutrophils to promote the initiation of allergic asthma.

Ozone-primed neutrophils promote early steps of tumour cell metastasis to lungs by enhancing their NET production.

BACKGROUND: Air pollution, including particulates and gazes such as ozone (O3), is detrimental for patient's health and has repeatedly been correlated to increased morbidity and mortality in industrialised countries. Although studies have described a link between ambient particulate matter and increased lung cancer morbidity, no direct relation has yet been established between O3 exposure and metastatic dissemination to lungs. OBJECTIVES: To outline the mechanisms through which pulmonary O3 exposure modulates metastasis kinetics in an experimental mouse model of O3 exposure. METHODS: Metastatic responses to pulmonary O3 exposure were assessed using a reliable experimental mouse model of concomitant pulmonary O3 exposure and tumour cell injection. Roles of neutrophils in O3-induced lung metastasis were highlighted using blocking anti-Ly6G antibodies; moreover, the implication of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in metastatic processes was evaluated using MRP8cre-Pad4lox/lox mice or by treating mice with DNase I. RESULTS: Pulmonary O3 exposure strongly facilitates the establishment of lung metastasis by (1) Inducing a pulmonary injury and neutrophilic inflammation, (2) Influencing very early steps of metastasis, (3) Priming neutrophils' phenotype to release NETs that favour tumour cell colonisation in lungs. The ability of O3-primed neutrophils to enhance lung colonisation by tumour cells was proven after their adoptive transfer in Balb/c mice unexposed to O3. CONCLUSIONS: Pulmonary neutrophils induced by O3 promote metastatic dissemination to lungs by producing NETs. These findings open new perspectives to improve treatment and prevention strategies in patients affected by metastatic diseases.