Our previous studies showed that urinary Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein (THP) potently enhanced polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) phagocytosis. However, the domain structure(s), signaling pathway and the intracellular events responsible for THP-enhanced PMN phagocytosis remain to be elucidated. THP was purified from normal human urine. The human promyelocytic leukemia cell line HL-60 was induced t...

CD47 functions as a marker of self on red blood cells (RBCs) by binding to signal regulatory protein alpha on macrophages, preventing phagocytosis of autologous RBCs by splenic red pulp macrophages, and Fc receptor (Fc R)– or complement receptor–mediated phagocytosis by macrophages in general. RBC senescence involves a series of biochemical changes to plasma membrane proteins or lipids, which m...

Phagocytosis--the engulfment of cells and foreign bodies--is an important cellular process in innate immunity, development, and disease. Quantification of various stages of phagocytosis, especially in a rapid screening fashion, is an invaluable tool for elucidating protein function during this process. However, current methods for assessing phagocytosis are largely limited to flow cytometry and...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of elevated glucose concentrations on complement receptor- and Fcgamma receptor-mediated phagocytosis in normal human neutrophils. D-Glucose at 15 or 25 mM dose-dependently inhibited both complement receptor- and Fcgamma receptor-mediated phagocytosis, as compared to that at a normal physiological glucose concentration. The protein kinase C (...

OBJECTIVE Deep sedation with barbiturates or propofol is a standard therapy for patients with critically elevated intracranial pressure. Such patients are prone to infectious complications, especially to pneumonias, which are most commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Although various immunomodulatory effects of barbiturates have been described in vitro, their influence on the phagocytosis ...

Aging results in deterioration of the immune system, which is associated with increased susceptibility to infection and impaired wound healing in the elderly. Phagocytosis is an essential process in both wound healing and immune defence. As such, age-related impairments in phagocytosis impact on the health of the elderly population. Phagocytic efficiency in peritoneal macrophages, bone marrow-d...

The phagocytic receptor for unopsonized Pseudomonas aeruginosa was characterized functionally using human monocyte-derived macrophages. Freshly isolated human peripheral blood monocytes were unable to ingest unopsonized P. aeruginosa; ingestion did not occur until the cells had been in culture for 2 d and it became maximal after 4 d. Macrophages plated on coverslips derivatized with anti-BSA Ig...

FcgammaR-mediated phagocytosis of IgG-coated particles is a complex process involving the activation of multiple signaling enzymes and is regulated by the inositol phosphatases PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) and SHIP-1 (Src homology [SH2] domain-containing inositol phosphatase). In a recent study we have demonstrated that SHIP-2, an inositol phosphatase with high...

Brief exposure of culture-derived human macrophages to laminin, a glycoprotein component of all mammalian basement membranes that has a molecular weight of 1,000,000, led to enhancement of subsequent macrophage phagocytosis of EAC4b, EAC3bi, and EAIgG (sheep erythrocytes sensitized with IgG anti-Forssman antibody). This effect on macrophage phagocytosis occurred with both substrate-adherent and...

Phagocytosis of isolated outer segments by cultured rat pigment epithelium was decreased by cyclic 3',5'adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP), dibutyryl cyclic AMP, and three phosphodiesterase inhibitors (isobutylmethylxanthine, papaverine, and SQ 65442). Cyclic GMP and its dibutyryl derivative had little effect on phagocytosis. Phagocytosis was moderately reduced by several other purine nucleot...