The Role of NETosis in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease affecting multiple organs with devastating pathological consequences. Current treatment regimens largely rely on immunosuppressants and corticosteroids to attenuate autoimmune activity. However, such treatments have toxic side effects, often lacks efficacy, and inherently leaves the patient prone to infections, making the discovery of novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets an urgent need. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) that participate in host defense are generated by neutrophils by a process called NETosis. NETs play an important role in the pathogenesis of SLE. In this review, we discuss the current literature regarding the role of NETs in SLE while entertaining the possibility that NETosis could serve as therapeutic targets thereby rendering the treatment more specific and effective in comparison to the current lupus therapy.

Keywords: Netosis; Systemic lupus erythematosus.

Figure 1:

PAD₄ expression is increased in experimental lupus brain. 8 μm frozen brain cortical sections obtained from MRL/MPJ congenic controls and MRL/lpr lupus mice were air dried, fixed in 4% formalin for 15 min and immunostained with PAD₄ antibody (1:100, Gene Tex Inc., CA, USA) overnight. The proteins were detected using Alexa-488 antibody (1:500, Molecular Probes, USA). Sections were observed and photographed with a Zeiss microscope (Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany).