Journal: Journal of Innate Immunity
Submission Deadline: December 31, 2025
Neutrophils are the most abundant innate immune cell type in peripheral blood, accounting for approximately seventy percent of human peripheral leukocytes. Investigating neutrophil biology and physiology in health and disease has been a lifelong commitment of many researchers, as these cells have always been considered the front-line defenders of the innate immune system.
Clinical observations and decades of focused cell-based research on inherited and idiopathic illnesses have demonstrated the critical role neutrophils play in protecting the body from bacterial and fungal infections. Migration of these cells is coordinated by a sequence of signals, including chemokine and cytokine gradients, and cell membrane adhesion molecules. Through the production of reactive oxygen species and release of proteases, neutrophils can kill engulfed microbes within the confines of the phagocytic vacuole, or alternatively through the release of neutrophil extracellular traps. Control of these cell processes is critical to prevent damage to surrounding healthy tissue, and thus neutrophil homeostasis requires a balance between cell maturation, aging, and subsequent death.
Over recent years, and with developed in vivo experimental techniques, enhanced imaging technology, and high-throughput analyses, data affirms pathogenic functions of neutrophils, contributing to tissue damage, inflammation, and autoimmune pathology in a broad range of diseases. On the other hand, other recent evidence indicates that neutrophils also possess reparative functions, orchestrating processes that restore normal tissue function after injury.
This article collection aims to publish manuscripts on the basic functions of neutrophils, and research addressing the role of this innate immune cell in the persistence of inflammation and tissue damage. It will include reviews and original research papers that expand our knowledge toward obtaining a better understanding of therapeutic strategies that target neutrophils for the resolution of inflammation.
Areas of interest include but are not limited to:
- Basic neutrophil biology and physiology
- Phenotypic heterogeneity of neutrophils
- Neutrophil released molecules and inflammatory mediators
- The pathogenic function of neutrophils in the progression of disease
- Protective functions of neutrophils in tissue repair
- Mechanisms and therapeutic strategies targeting neutrophils during recruitment, inflammation, or resolution.
Please select the option “Call for Papers: Understanding Neutrophils in Health, Disease and Tissue Repair” when submitting your manuscript and mention this Call for Papers in your cover letter.
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