Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) are an important innate immune mechanism to fight pathogenic bacteria, fungi and parasites. Here we describe methods to isolate neutrophil granulocytes from human blood and to activate them to form NETs. We present preparation techniques to visualize NETs in light and electron microscopy.
Brinkmann, V., Laube, B., Abu Abed, U., Goosmann, C., Zychlinsky, A. Neutrophil Extracellular Traps: How to Generate and Visualize Them. J. Vis. Exp. (36), e1724, doi:10.3791/1724 (2010).