Following the discovery of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in 2004 by Brinkmann and colleagues, there has been extensive research into the role of NETs in a number of inflammatory diseases, including periodontitis. This chapter describes the current methods for the isolation of peripheral blood neutrophils for subsequent NET experiments, including approaches to quantify and visualize NET production, the ability of NETs to entrap and kill bacteria, and the removal of NETs by nuclease-containing plasma.
Keywords: Cathepsin G; Chemiluminescence; DNA; Elastase; Fluorescence microscopy; Immunostaining; Myeloperoxidase; Neutrophil extracellular traps; Reactive oxygen species; SEM.