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Neutrophils and neutrophil extracellular traps in cancer: promising targets for engineered nanomaterials

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Abstract

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in circulation and constitute up to 60% of circulating leukocytes. Neutrophils play a significant role in host defense against pathogens through various mechanisms, including phagocytosis, production of antimicrobial proteins, and formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Recently, the role of neutrophils and NETs in cancer has generated significant interest, as accumulating evidence suggests that neutrophils and NETs contribute to cancer progression and are associated with adverse patient outcomes. In this review, we will first highlight the roles of neutrophils and NETs in cancer progression and metastasis and discuss new drug delivery approaches to target and modulate neutrophils and NETs for cancer therapeutics.

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Acknowledgements

E.B.O. was supported by NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship and CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship and State University of New York at Fredonia. C.L. was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the Cellular Biotechnology Training Program (T32GM008353), and a Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Fellowship awarded to the University of Michigan. C.M.S. was supported by funds from the State University of New York at Fredonia.

Funding

This work was supported by NIH (R01DE030691, R01DE031951, R01DK125087, R01NS122536, R01CA271799, and U01CA210152) and the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center Support Grant (P30CA046592).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, NY, 14063, USA

    Emeka B. Okeke & Caitlin M. Snyder

  2. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Emeka B. Okeke & James J. Moon

  3. Biointerfaces Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Emeka B. Okeke, Cameron Louttit & James J. Moon

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Cameron Louttit & James J. Moon

  5. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    James J. Moon

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  1. Emeka B. Okeke
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  2. Cameron Louttit
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  3. Caitlin M. Snyder
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  4. James J. Moon
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All authors contributed to conceptualizing and writing this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Emeka B. Okeke or James J. Moon.

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J.J.M. declares financial interests as board membership, a paid consultant, research funding, and/or equity holder in EVOQ Therapeutics, Saros Therapeutics, and Intrinsic Medicine.

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Okeke, E.B., Louttit, C., Snyder, C.M. et al. Neutrophils and neutrophil extracellular traps in cancer: promising targets for engineered nanomaterials. Drug Deliv. and Transl. Res. 13, 1882–1895 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13346-022-01243-1

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