Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2007 Jun;116(3):227-35.
doi: 10.1007/s00412-007-0094-8. Epub 2007 Jan 24.

The granulocyte nucleus and lamin B receptor: avoiding the ovoid

Katrin Hoffmann  1 , Karl Sperling, Ada L Olins, Donald E Olins
Affiliations
Review

The granulocyte nucleus and lamin B receptor: avoiding the ovoid

Katrin Hoffmann et al. Chromosoma. 2007 Jun.

Abstract

The major human blood granulocyte, the neutrophil, is an essential component of the innate immunity system, emigrating from blood vessels and migrating through tight tissue spaces to the site of bacterial or fungal infection where they kill and phagocytose invading microbes. Since the late nineteenth century, it has been recognized that the human neutrophil nucleus is distinctly not ovoid as in other cell types, but possesses a lobulated (segmented) shape. This deformable nucleus enhances rapid migration. Recent studies have demonstrated that lamin B receptor (LBR) is necessary for the non-ovoid shape. LBR is an integral membrane protein of the nuclear envelope. A single dominant mutation in humans leads to neutrophils with hypolobulated nuclei (Pelger-Huet anomaly); homozygosity leads to ovoid granulocyte nuclei. Interestingly, LBR is also an enzyme involved in cholesterol metabolism. Homozygosity for null mutations is frequently lethal and associated with severe skeletal deformities. In addition to the necessity for LBR, formation of the mature granulocyte nucleus also depends upon lamin composition and microtubule integrity. These observations are part of a larger question on the relationships between nuclear shape and cellular function.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2005 Jan;6(1):21-31 - PubMed
    1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Nov;85(22):8531-4 - PubMed
    1. BMC Cell Biol. 2005 Nov 15;6:39 - PubMed
    1. Acta Haematol. 1952 May;7(5):295-303 - PubMed
    1. J Comp Pathol. 1987 Jan;97(1):61-72 - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources