Figure 1.

Netrin-1 in acute inflammation. Acute inflammation is defined by a rapid influx of neutrophils into the inflamed tissue to combat the intruding pathogen. This is followed by a monocyte recruitment to extend the rapid immune response. In many different models, it has been shown that netrin-1 can very effectively mitigate the influx of neutrophils and monocytes and thereby dampen the acute inflammatory response. The acute, initial phase is followed by a resolving phase, in which neutrophils undergo apoptosis and are taken up by monocytes. The efferocytosis in turn promotes the differentiation of pro-inflammatory into anti-inflammatory monocytes. This phenotype switch and the monocyte egress in acute inflammation is facilitated by netrin-1.