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The collective behavior of cells and insects often relies on self-organizing processes. By releasing attractant signals, a few individuals can initiate the accumulation and aggregation of a whole population. Neutrophils, key players in the innate immune response, infiltrate inflamed and infected tissues in large numbers. These cells make use of such positive feedback amplification to find and kill bacteria in tissues. By secreting attractants that act through cell surface–expressed G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) on neighboring cells, neutrophils use this form of intercellular communication and coordinate their hunt for pathogens as a swarm. How this swarming response is terminated to avoid uncontrolled neutrophil accumulations and prevent excessive inflammation is currently unknown.

The stop signals for neutrophil swarming in mammalian tissues have not yet been defined. They …