Fig. 2

Eosinophil effector mechanisms following eosinophil activation. Among other pro-inflammatory mediators, eosinophils release granular proteins and mitochondrial DNA. As a consequence, eosinophil granule proteins mediate toxicity toward pathogens or host cells, either alone and with extracellular DNA traps. Cytolysis is associated with massive granule protein secretion. Moreover, cytolysis most likely results in the release of damage-associated molecular pattern molecules (DAMPs), which are known to trigger inflammatory responses. The release of DAMPs from cytolytic eosinophils, however, remains to be demonstrated; hence, this pathway is indicated with dashed arrows