Figure 6.

Lactoferrin (Lf)-derived peptides induce aggregated neutrophil extracellular traps (aggNETs) formation. Human polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) from three healthy donors were freshly isolated from peripheral blood and seeded in a final cell density of 5 × 10⁶ cells/ml. PMNs were incubated with 50 pg/cell monosodium urate crystals (MSU) and/or 10–100 µM Lf (LF) and/or 10–100 µM FKD or FKE peptides and 1 µg/ml propidium iodide solution. NET aggregation was stopped by fixation and aggNETs formed were filtrated through a 40-µM mesh. Macrophotographs with UVB transillumination were captured with a Nikon D700 reflex camera (A). Averages ± SEM of fluorescence values from three independent donors of the images of control, MSU, and MSU + Lf (B) and MSU + FKD/FKE peptides at the indicated concentrations (C). **/*indicate statistically significant differences of P ≤ 0.01/P ≤ 0.05, respectively, by ANOVA with Tukey post hoc analysis.