Narrow Results

Neutrophilic leukocytes are dynamic, motile cells that provide the first line of defense against many infecting organisms. In doing so, neutrophils undergo many of the cellular functions that are known to result from activation of signal transduction pathways. As an end stage cell, the neutrophil is not encumbered by machinery necessary for cellular replication, and thereby has provided an attractive model to define pathways involved in signaling events leading to Ca²⁺ mobilization, actin cytoskeletal dynamics, adherence and chemotactic migration and release of toxic oxygen molecules. The realization that virtually all of the neutrophil's signaling pathways converge to coordinate, regulate and orchestrate the cell's effects has resulted in a new appreciation of how cellular responses are integrated by fundamental biochemical processes in a manner designed to optimize cellular responses.