Megakaryocytic Emperipolesis Associated with Thrombocytopenia: Causative or Coincidence?

Phagocytosis, emperipolesis, and entosis are physiological and pathological phenomena characterized by the engulfment of one cell into another cell [1]. Emperipolesis is defined as active penetration of one cell by another, which remains intact [2]. Emperipolesis differs from phagocytosis in that an engulfed cell exists temporarily within another cell and with an intact normal structure, while in phagocytosis, the engulfed cell is destroyed by the proteolytic action of lysosomal enzymes [1,2]. Entosis is a non-apoptotic cell death mechanism that occurs in cell populations deprived of matrix attachment [3,4].