Summary Neutrophils can function and survive in injured and infected tissues, where oxygen and metabolic substrates are limited. Using radioactive flux assays and LC-MS tracing with U- 13 C glucose, glutamine, and pyruvate, we observe that neutrophils require the generation of intracellular glycogen stores by gluconeogenesis and glycogenesis for effective survival and bacterial killing. These metabolic adaptations are dynamic, with net increases in glycogen stores observed following LPS challenge or altitude-induced hypoxia. Neutrophils from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have reduced glycogen cycling, resulting in impaired function. Metabolic specialization of neutrophils may therefore underpin disease pathology and allow selective therapeutic targeting.

Neutrophils are predominantly glycolytic cells that derive little ATP from oxidative phosphorylation; however, they possess an extensive mitochondrial network and maintain a mitochondrial membrane potential. Although studies have shown neutrophils need their mitochondria to undergo apoptosis and regulate NETosis, the metabolic role of the respiratory chain in these highly glycolytic cells is still unclear. Recent studies have expanded on the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) released from the mitochondria as intracellular signaling molecules. Our study shows that neutrophils can use their mitochondria to generate ROS and that mitochondrial ROS release is increased in hypoxic conditions. This is needed for the stabilization of a high level of the critical hypoxic response factor and pro-survival protein HIF-1α in hypoxia. Further, we demonstrate that neutrophils use the glycerol 3-phosphate pathway as a way of directly regulating mitochondrial function through glycolysis, specifically to maintain polarized mitochondria and produce ROS. This illustrates an additional pathway by which neutrophils can regulate HIF-1α stability and will therefore be an important consideration when looking for treatments of inflammatory conditions in which HIF-1α activation and neutrophil persistence at the site of inflammation are linked to disease severity.

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe critical condition with a high mortality that is currently in focus given that it is associated with mortality caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Neutrophils play a key role in the lung injury characteristic of non-COVID-19 ARDS and there is also accumulating evidence of neutrophil mediated lung injury in patients who succumb to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: We undertook a functional proteomic and metabolomic survey of circulating neutrophil populations, comparing patients with COVID-19 ARDS and non-COVID-19 ARDS to understand the molecular basis of neutrophil dysregulation. Results: Expansion of the circulating neutrophil compartment and the presence of activated low and normal density mature and immature neutrophil populations occurs in ARDS, irrespective of cause. Release of neutrophil granule proteins, neutrophil activation of the clotting cascade and upregulation of the Mac-1 platelet binding complex with formation of neutrophil platelet aggregates is exaggerated in COVID-19 ARDS. Importantly, activation of components of the neutrophil type I interferon responses is seen in ARDS following infection with SARS-CoV-2, with associated rewiring of neutrophil metabolism, and the upregulation of antigen processing and presentation. Whilst dexamethasone treatment constricts the immature low density neutrophil population, it does not impact upon prothrombotic hyperinflammatory neutrophil signatures. Conclusions: Given the crucial role of neutrophils in ARDS and the evidence of a disordered myeloid response observed in COVID-19 patients, this work maps the molecular basis for neutrophil reprogramming in the distinct clinical entities of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 ARDS.

Programmed cell death (apoptosis) has an important role in the maintenance of tissue homeostasis as well as the progression and ultimate resolution of inflammation. During apoptosis, the cell undergoes morphological and biochemical changes [e.g., phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) exposure, caspase activation, changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and DNA cleavage] that act to shut down cellular function and mark the cell for phagocytic clearance. Tissue phagocytes bind and internalize apoptotic cells, bodies, and vesicles, providing a mechanism for the safe disposal of apoptotic material. Phagocytic removal of apoptotic cells before they undergo secondary necrosis reduces the potential for bystander damage to adjacent tissue and importantly initiates signaling pathways within the phagocytic cell that act to dampen inflammation. In a pathological context, excessive apoptosis or failure to clear apoptotic material results in secondary necrosis with the release of pro-inflammatory intracellular contents. In this review, we consider some of the mechanisms by which phagocytosis of apoptotic cells can be controlled. We suggest that matching apoptotic cell load with the capacity for apoptotic cell clearance within tissues may be important for therapeutic strategies that target the apoptotic process for treatment of inflammatory disease.

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe critical condition with a high mortality that is currently in focus given that it is associated with mortality caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Neutrophils play a key role in the lung injury characteristic of non-COVID-19 ARDS and there is also accumulating evidence of neutrophil mediated lung injury in patients who succumb to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: We undertook a functional proteomic and metabolomic survey of circulating neutrophil populations, comparing patients with COVID-19 ARDS and non-COVID-19 ARDS to understand the molecular basis of neutrophil dysregulation. Results: Expansion of the circulating neutrophil compartment and the presence of activated low and normal density mature and immature neutrophil populations occurs in ARDS, irrespective of cause. Release of neutrophil granule proteins, neutrophil activation of the clotting cascade and upregulation of the Mac-1 platelet binding complex with formation of neutrophil platelet aggregates is exaggerated in COVID-19 ARDS. Importantly, activation of components of the neutrophil type I interferon responses is seen in ARDS following infection with SARS-CoV-2, with associated rewiring of neutrophil metabolism, and the upregulation of antigen processing and presentation. Whilst dexamethasone treatment constricts the immature low density neutrophil population, it does not impact upon prothrombotic hyperinflammatory neutrophil signatures. Conclusions: Given the crucial role of neutrophils in ARDS and the evidence of a disordered myeloid response observed in COVID-19 patients, this work maps the molecular basis for neutrophil reprogramming in the distinct clinical entities of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 ARDS.

In the originally published version of this article, an earlier draft of Figure 5 was mistakenly included. This has now been replaced with the final version, which includes data generated during the revision process. Updated figure panels now include bacterial killing of Staphylococcus aureus (SH1000) (Figure 5B), baseline ATP levels (Figure 5D), glycolytic response to SH1000 (Figures 5E and 5F), and tracing of U-13C glutamine into F1,6BP (Figure 5R). Figure 5G has been removed and replaced by 5E; 5L has been removed and replaced by 5D. The remaining panels have been renumbered in line with the figure legend and Results text. The figure legend in the originally published article is correct and corresponds to the updated figure. This error does not affect the data and conclusions of the paper. The authors sincerely apologize for any confusion that this error may have caused.

Hypoxemia is a defining feature of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), an often-fatal complication of pulmonary or systemic inflammation, yet the resulting tissue hypoxia, and its impact on immune responses, is often neglected. In the present study, we have shown that ARDS patients were hypoxemic and monocytopenic within the first 48 h of ventilation. Monocytopenia was also observed in mouse models of hypoxic acute lung injury, in which hypoxemia drove the suppression of type I interferon signaling in the bone marrow. This impaired monopoiesis resulted in reduced accumulation of monocyte-derived macrophages and enhanced neutrophil-mediated inflammation in the lung. Administration of colony-stimulating factor 1 in mice with hypoxic lung injury rescued the monocytopenia, altered the phenotype of circulating monocytes, increased monocyte-derived macrophages in the lung and limited injury. Thus, tissue hypoxia altered the dynamics of the immune response to the detriment of the host and interventions to address the aberrant response offer new therapeutic strategies for ARDS.

Understanding the mechanisms by which infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is of significant clinical interest given the mortality associated with severe and critical coronavirus induced disease 2019 (COVID-19). Neutrophils play a key role in the lung injury characteristic of non-COVID-19 ARDS, but a relative paucity of these cells is observed at post-mortem in lung tissue of patients who succumb to infection with SARS-CoV-2. With emerging evidence of a dysregulated innate immune response in COVID-19, we undertook a functional proteomic survey of circulating neutrophil populations, comparing patients with COVID-19 ARDS, non-COVID-19 ARDS, moderate COVID-19, and healthy controls. We observe that expansion of the circulating neutrophil compartment and the presence of activated low and normal density mature and immature neutrophil populations occurs in both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 ARDS. In contrast, release of neutrophil granule proteins, neutrophil activation of the clotting cascade and formation of neutrophil platelet aggregates is significantly increased in COVID-19 ARDS. Importantly, activation of components of the neutrophil type I IFN responses is specific to infection with SARS-CoV-2 and linked to metabolic rewiring. Together this work highlights how differential activation of circulating neutrophil populations may contribute to the pathogenesis of ARDS, identifying processes that are specific to COVID-19 ARDS.