File:Blausen_0676_Neutrophil_(crop).png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
neutrophil
Sign in to saveAlso known as neutrophil granulocyte, neutrophils
Neutrophils are a type of phagocytic white blood cell and part of innate immunity. More specifically, they form the most abundant type of granulocytes and make up 40% to 70% of all white blood cells in humans. Their functions vary in different animals. In humans they participate in processes such as sterile inflammation, tissue repair, and cancer, and exhibit coordinated collective behavior. They are also known as neutrocytes, heterophils or polymorphonuclear leukocytes.
Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that make up nearly half of all white blood cells in the human body and work as part of your immune system to fight infection and handle damage. In humans, they're involved in inflammation, healing tissue damage, and even interacting with cancer, while also being able to work together in coordinated groups.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Cell.Name
- Neutrophil
- Cell.Image2
- Neutrophils.jpg
- Cell.Caption2
- Neutrophils with segmented nuclei surrounded by erythrocytes and platelets. Intra-cellular granules are visible in the cytoplasm (Giemsa stained).
- Cell.Image
- Blausen 0676 Neutrophil (crop).png
- Cell.Caption
- 3D rendering of a neutrophil
- Cell.System
- Immune system
- Cell.Function
- Phagocytosis
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
239,905 papers- The Neutrophil's Role During Health and Disease.ReviewPhysiological reviews · 2019Liew PX, Kubes PDOI: 10.1152/physrev.00012.2018
- Neutrophil extracellular traps and neutrophilic asthma.ReviewRespiratory medicine · 2025Xiang J, Cui M, Zhang YDOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2025.108150
- DEL-1, as an anti-neutrophil transepithelial migration molecule, inhibits airway neutrophilic inflammation in asthma.Allergy · 2024Jia M, Fu H, Jiang X et al.DOI: 10.1111/all.15882
- Cancer cells induce metastasis-supporting neutrophil extracellular DNA traps.Science translational medicine · 2016Park J, Wysocki RW, Amoozgar Z et al.DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aag1711
- IL-1β-induced epithelial cell and fibroblast transdifferentiation promotes neutrophil recruitment in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.Nature communications · 2024Xie X, Wang P, Jin M et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53307-0
- Role of neutrophil interleukin-23 in spondyloarthropathy spectrum disorders.ReviewThe Lancet. Rheumatology · 2023Macleod T, Bridgewood C, McGonagle DDOI: 10.1016/S2665-9913(22)00334-4
- Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: Inflammation and Biomaterial Preconditioning for Tissue Engineering.ReviewTissue engineering. Part B, Reviews · 2022Fetz AE, Bowlin GLDOI: 10.1089/ten.TEB.2021.0013
- Neutrophil dysfunction in bronchiectasis: an emerging role for immunometabolism.ReviewThe European respiratory journal · 2021Giam YH, Shoemark A, Chalmers JDDOI: 10.1183/13993003.03157-2020
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- cell type
- Subclass of
- granulocyte
- Part of
- innate immune response
- Image
- Neutrophil 1.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Neutrophils
- different from
- neutrophile
- develops from
- band cell
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
19 sectionsContents
- Structure
- Reaction to sugars
- Development
- Life span
- Function
- Anti-microbial function
- Phagocytosis
- Degranulation
- Neutrophil extracellular traps
- Tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs)
- Clinical significance
- Pathogen evasion and resistance
- Neutrophil antigens
- Subpopulations
- Video
- Additional images
- See also
- References
- External links
Neutrophils are a type of phagocytic white blood cell and part of innate immunity. More specifically, they form the most abundant type of granulocytes and make up 40% to 70% of all white blood cells in humans. Their functions vary in different animals. In humans they participate in processes such as sterile inflammation, tissue repair, and cancer, and exhibit coordinated collective behavior. They are also known as neutrocytes, heterophils or polymorphonuclear leukocytes.
They are formed from stem cells in the bone marrow and differentiated into subpopulations of neutrophil-killers and neutrophil-cagers. They are short-lived (between 5 and 135hours) and highly mobile, as they can enter parts of tissue where other cells/molecules cannot. Neutrophils may be subdivided into segmented neutrophils and banded neutrophils (or bands). They form part of the polymorphonuclear cells family (PMNs) together with basophils and eosinophils.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “neutrophil” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.