8 - Eosinophils Flashcards
What are eosinophils?
- Usually regarded as terminally differentiated cells, with anti-parasitic function, principally through degranulation
- Named for their reaction with acidophilic dyes
Characteristics of eosinophils (life span, numbers etc.)
- Low numbers (<400 per mm3) compared with neutrophils
- Short presence (ca. 18 hour half-life) in circulation
- Move from blood into tissues (lifespan in weeks)
- Associated with lung pathologies
What group are eosinophils part of?
- part of the polymorphic nuclear granulocyte group
Features of mature eosinophils
Mature cells have low nos. of mitochondria, limited ER and Golgi
How many granule proteins and what are they?
4 major granule proteins:
- Eosinophil peroxidase
- Major basic protein (MBP)*
- Eosinophil cationic proteins (ECP)*
- Eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN)
+ cytokines, enzymes
- bactericidal
Structure of eosinophils
- cell membrane: lipid mediator, chemoattractant and CD or MHC class II, FC receptors, adhesion receptors, interleukin 5 receptor
- primary granules & specific granules
- sombrero vesicles
- intracellular patter recognition receptor
- specific granules - major basic protein and eosinophil
- cationic proteins which are bactericidal
Functions of eosinophil-derived mediators
- T cell activation & polarisation
- cell mediated immunity
- recruitment of dendritic & T cells
- humoral immunity
- maintenance of bone marrow plasma cells
- maintenance of secretory IgA in intestines
- tissue regelation & repair
- angiogenesis
- fibrosis
- adipose tissue - metabolic homeostasis
- steady state development in mammary gland and intestine
- cell:cell interactions
- host protection
What activity have eosinophils recently been demonstrated to have?
Eosinophils recently demonstrated to have activity against respiratory viruses
Where is the highest eosinophil residency?
In the gut and lungs
What does eosinophil activity depend on?
Activity largely depends on granule release?
What can tissue resident eosinophils mediate?
Tissue resident eosinophils now known to mediate a broad range of activities in local environment
What do eosinophils in granules contribute to?
Eosinophils in granules contribute to host protecion
- some recent papers found more involvement of eosinophils in COVID pathology and outcomes
Types of degranulation
- classic exocytotic degranulation
- cytolysis with release of cell-free granules
- piecemeal degranulation (PMD)
Classic exocytotic degranulation
- Eosinophils adherent to the surface of a large multicellular parasite have been shown to undergo classic exocytotic degranulation, wherein intracellular granules fuse with the plasma membrane, creating a secretory pore through which the entire granule contents are released. - In compound exocytosis, granule–granule fusions occur within the cytoplasm, forming secretory channels that enable the wholesale degranulation of the combined content of multiple granules
Piecemeal degranulation (PMD)
Piecemeal degranulation (PMD) differentially releases granule-derived proteins, including cytokines, as discrete packets
a. Granules within cells undergoing PMD exhibit varying degrees of ultrastructural alteration, including an apparent reorganization of electron-dense contents and the appearance of a membranous network of tubules within granules.
b. granule-derived proteins are differentially mobilized into small round vesicles and tubular structures, the latter termed eosinophil sombrero vesicles (EoSVs), that emerge from mobilized granules and seem to derive directly from the intragranular membrano-vesicular network of tubules.
c. As shown for eotaxin-elicited PMD of IL-4 in panel Cc, tubular EoSVs express lumen-oriented receptor chains that are bound by their cognate cytokine ligand, which indicates that a mechanism of receptor-mediated chaperoning may contribute to differential cytokine secretion. After emerging from granules, cytoplasmic EoSVs and small vesicles traverse the cytoplasm and fuse with the plasma membrane to release their granule-derived cargo
Cytolysis with release of cell-free granules
- Eosinophils may also be induced to undergo a cytolytic cell death pathway characterized by dissolution of the nuclear and plasma membranes, extrusion of DNA nets and expulsion of intact granules that are observed individually and as clusters of cell-free extracellular granules within tissues.
- A portion of cell-free, extracellularly deposited eosinophil granules retain an intact trilaminar outer membrane, express outwardly oriented functional receptors on their outer membranes as shown in the right panel, and remain competent to undergo stimulus-dependent secretion within tissues.