Do neutrophil extracellular traps contribute to the heightened risk of thrombosis in inflammatory diseases?

Figure 2 Antiphospholipid syndrome neutrophils are prone to “spontaneous” neutrophil extracellular trap release. Freshly-isolated neutrophils from a healthy control (A) or antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patient (B) were seeded onto poly-lysine-coated coverslips and incubated in serum-free media for 2 h. Samples were then fixed with paraformaldehyde and stained with Hoechst 33342 (DNA = blue) and anti-neutrophil elastase (Abcam, green). Cells were not specifically permeabilized and neutrophil elastase staining is therefore primarily extracellular. These representative micrographs show more neutrophil extracellular trap release in the APS neutrophils, as determined by overlapping DNA and neutrophil elastase staining.