MONOCYTES REDISCOVERED: THEIR CRITICAL ROLE IN CANCER AND INFECTION

摘要

Most clinicians can readily generate a list of functions performed by neutrophils, but the odds are most will be stumped when it comes to generating a similar list for monocytes. Monocytes are largely ignored in the veterinary curriculum, and few veterinary researchers study monocytes. Who can remember the last time they got excited about finding monocytosis on a CBC? Or worried when the monocyte count was low? The reality is that monocytes are virtually a forgotten cell type when it comes to clinical medicine.However, things have begun to change in the monocyte arena and there has recently been a marked resurgence of interest in monocytes and monocyte biology, spanning disciplines as diverse as infectious diseases, autoimmunity, cancer, and developmental biology. What has sparked this renewed interest? In part, improved availability of reagents has made it possible to identify specific monocyte subsets with diverse functions in health and disease in rodents and humans. For example, in human medicine there isnow a new understanding of the critical role of inflammatory monocytes in atherosclerosis, stroke, and myocardial infarction and in the metabolic inflammatory syndrome associated with obesity. Identifying the chemokines and receptors that regulate monocyte mobilization and recruitment has also sparked interest in development of new drugs to block the deleterious effects of monocytes. In addition, new animal models of monocyte depletion have generated remarkable new insights into the often contradictory roles of monocytes in infectious diseases and cancer.