In search of the mechanism that shapes the neutrophil's nucleus

  1. Katia Georgopoulos
  1. Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA
  1. Corresponding author: katia.georgopoulos{at}cbrc2.mgh.harvard.edu

Abstract

The organization of the genome within the confines of the nuclear compartment is considered a key contributor to transcription and DNA replication, repair, and recombination. A typical higher eukaryotic cell has a spherical nucleus that is ∼10 µm in diameter. This is not the case for a neutrophil, a short-lived innate immune cell with an unusual multilobular nuclear structure that may serve purposes outside nuclear functions. In this issue of Genes & Development, Zhu and colleagues (pp. 141–153) investigate the neutrophil's genome organization and the mechanisms that contribute to its unique nuclear shape.

Keywords

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