Phagocytosis: The Legacy of Metchnikoff

Elie Metchnikoff (1845-1916): discoverer of phagocytosis.

Elie Metchnikoff: father of natural immunity.

We celebrate the centenary of the Nobel award to Elie Metchnikoff in 2008, shared with Paul Ehrlich, as respective pioneers of cellular and humoral immunology. Metchnikoff is rightly famous for his recognition of the biological significance of leukocyte recruitment and phagocytosis of microbes in host defence against infection, inflammation and immunity. As a comparative zoologist he utilised a...

Phagocytosis of Neutrophils

From the time that the inflammatory reaction was first characterized by its cardinal signs of color, rubor, tumor, et dolor, until the studies on phagocytosis by Metchnikoff, it was considered that this reaction by the organism was detrimental to its well being. Metchnikoff (1), however, saw the process of inflammation as a " . . . salutary reaction against some injurious influence." He stated ...

Endocytosis: Past, present, and future.

Endocytosis, the process of cellular ingestion, may have been the driving force behind evolution of the eucaryotic cell (de Duve 2007). Acquiring the ability to internalize macromolecules and digest them intracellularly would have allowed primordial cells to move out from their food sources and pursue a predatory existence; one that might have led to the development of endosymbiotic relationshi...

Phagocytosis: A Fundamental Process in Immunity

One hundred years have passed since the death of Élie Metchnikoff (1845-1916). He was the first to observe the uptake of particles by cells and realized the importance of this process for the host response to injury and infection. He also was a strong advocate of the role of phagocytosis in cellular immunity, and with this he gave us the basis for our modern understanding of inflammation and th...