Good flatmates: immature neutrophils protect bone integrity

Everyone knows stories about uninvited guests who crashed the party or pesky flatmates who messed up the kitchen and never cleaned the bathroom.Therefore, it feels good to have roommates who make sure that no one goes overboard.In this issue of Blood, Isojima et al 1 show that similar things happen in the bone marrow, where immature granulocyte (neutrophil) precursors not only are mere residents of the bone apartment but, in fact, ensure that the mansion is not destroyed by the uncontrolled growth of annoying roommates, the bone-resorbing osteoclasts.