The role of HMGB1 in efferocytosis: when the dead go unburied. Focus on 'HMGB1 inhibits macrophage activity in efferocytosis through binding to the alphavbeta3-integrin'.

摘要

every day in the life of an organism, cells die. The toll is staggeringly large, as millions to billions of cells meet their demise on a daily basis. Sometimes death is physiological as new cells replace old during differentiation and turnover. Other times, however, death is pathological, perturbing organ function and jeopardizing survival of the organism. In these settings, the sheer presence of cellular corpses can have profound consequences since, as cells die, they can be recognized as "foreign" and induce inflammatory responses. Not surprisingly, the body has developed clearance mechanisms to handle the corpse burden generated each day. As shown by Friggeri et al. (7) in this issue of American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology, these mechanisms may bury the corpses safely in the confines of the macrophage, the body's equivalent of "6 feet under," or keep them above ground where they can do their mischief.