1 Neutrophils – a key component of ischemia reperfusion injury Zoe Victoria Schofield 1 , Trent Martin Woodruff 2 , Reena Halai 1 , Mike Chia- Lun Wu 2 and Matthew Allistair Cooper 1a 1 Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia; 2 School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia a Corresponding author - Professor Matthew A. Cooper, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, 306 Carmody Rd, PhD, St. Lucia, 4072, Queensland, Australia, Tel: +61 7 3346 2044, Fax: +61 7 3346 2090, Email: m.cooper@uq.edu.au Funding - MAC is grateful for the support of a National Health and Medical Research Council Australia Fellowship [AF51105], TMW acknowledges the funding support of the Australian Research Council (Future Fellowship FT110100332). ZVS is grateful to the IMB for a PhD Scholarship. Acknowledgements-We would like to thank Alberto Boucas Da Silva for his critical review of the paper Statement of no relevant conflict of interests - This Review has been submitted solely to this journal and has not been previously published in any form in another publication of any type. Abstract Ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is a common occurrence following myocardial infarction, transplantation, stroke and trauma that can lead to multiple organ failure, which remains the foremost cause of death in critically ill patients. Current therapeutic strategies for IRI are mainly palliative, and there is an urgent requirement for a therapeutic that could prevent or reverse tissue damage caused by IRI. Neutrophils are the primary responders following ischemia and reperfusion and represent important components in the protracted inflammatory response and severity associated with IRI. Experimental studies demonstrate