The granulocytes are named for the densely staining granules in their cytoplasm; they are also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes because of their oddly shaped nuclei. The three types of granulocytes—neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils— are distinguished by the different staining properties of their granules, which serve distinct functions. Granulocytes are all relatively short-lived, surviving for only a few days. They mature in the bone marrow, and their production increases during immune responses, when they migrate to sites of infection or inflammation. The phagocytic neutrophils are the most numerous and important cells in innate immune responses: they take up a variety of microorganisms by phagocytosis and efficiently destroy them in intracellular vesicles by using degradative enzymes and other antimicrobial substances stored in their cytoplasmic granules. Hereditary deficiencies in neutrophil function open the way to overwhelming bacterial infection, which is fatal if untreated. Their role is discussed further in Chapter 3.
Eosinophils and basophils are less abundant than neutrophils, but like neutrophils, they have granules containing a variety of enzymes and toxic proteins, which are released when these cells are activated. Eosinophils and basophils are thought to be important chiefly in defense against parasites, which are too large to be ingested by macrophages or neutrophils. They can also contribute to allergic inflammatory reactions, in which their effects are damaging rather than protective.
Mast cells begin development in the bone marrow, but migrate as immature precursors that mature in peripheral tissues, especially skin, intestines, and airway mucosa. Their granules contain many inflammatory mediators, such as histamine and various proteases, which play a role in protecting the internal surfaces from pathogens, including parasitic worms. We cover eosinophils, basophils, and mast cells and their role in allergic inflammation further in Chapters 10 and 14.
Dendritic cells were discovered in the 1970s by Ralph Steinman, for which he received half the 2011 Nobel Prize. These cells form the third class of phagocytic cells of the immune system and include several related lineages whose distinct functions are still being clarified. Most dendritic cells have elaborate membranous processes, like the dendrites of nerve cells. Immature dendritic cells migrate through the bloodstream from the bone marrow to enter tissues. They take up particulate matter by phagocytosis and also continually ingest large amounts of the extracellular fluid and its contents by a process known as macropinocytosis. They degrade the pathogens that they take up, but their main role in the immune system is not the clearance of microorganisms. Instead, dendritic cells are a major class of sensor cells whose encounter with pathogens triggers them to produce mediators that activate other immune cells. Dendritic cells were discovered because of their role in activating a particular class of lymphocytes—T lymphocytes—of the adaptive immune system, and we will return to this activity when we discuss T-cell activation in Section 1-15. But dendritic cells and the mediators they produce also play a critical role in controlling responses of cells of the innate immune system.
1-5 Sensor cells express pattern recognition receptors that provide an initial discrimination between self and nonself.
Long before the mechanisms of innate recognition were discovered, it was recognized that purified antigens such as proteins often did not evoke an immune response in an experimental immunization—that is, they were not
Principles of innate immunity.