Engulfment of apoptotic cells by phagocytes is important throughout development and adult life. When phagocytes engulf apoptotic cells, they increase their cellular contents including cholesterol and phospholipids, but how the phagocytes respond to this increased load is poorly understood. Here, we identify one type of a phagocyte response, wherein the recognition of apoptotic cells triggers en...

Activation of phagocytic cells in the injury zone is a crucial step in the regeneration of peripheral axons. Many aspects of the mechanisms underlying the recruitment of active phagocytes remain, however, unclear. Notably, our understanding of the interactions between injury, extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation and phagocyte activation is limited. Most animal cell types, phagocytes included,...

Reactive oxygen metabolites produced during phagocytosis are important for the microbicidal activity of granulocytes and probably of monocytes as well (1, 2). Although the role of reactive oxygen metabolites in the microbicidal activity of macrophages is not established, recent studies (3-6) suggest that they may be important because activated macrophages that exhibit enhanced antimicrobial act...

Caffeine is the most widely used neurostimulant in the world. There is considerable debate on its effect on immune cells as it has been shown to antagonize adenosine receptors (ARs), which mediate an anti-inflammatory switch in activated immune cells. A second target is phosphodiesterase, where it acts as an inhibitor. If the primary effect of caffeine on mononuclear phagocytes were to antagoni...

1. The process of Wallerian degeneration was investigated in the pyramidal tract of rhesus monkeys which had experimental lesions in the brain and had survived for a variety of periods, from 3 to 787 days, after physiological and neurological studies of the pyramidal tract lesions. 2. The nervous tissue samples were embedded in Epon 812 and observed by electron microscopy of ultra-thin sections...

Immune systems in animals rely on fast and efficient responses to a wide variety of pathogens. The Sp185/333 gene family in the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, consists of an estimated 50 (±10) members per genome that share a basic gene structure but show high sequence diversity, primarily due to the mosaic appearance of short blocks of sequence called elements. The genes show...

Increased numbers of macrophages are found in the lungs of smokers and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Experimental evidence shows the central role of macrophages in elaboration of inflammatory mediators such as TNF-α and the progression toward cigarette smoke-induced emphysema. We investigated the role of CX3CR1 in recruitment of mononuclear phagocytes, inflammatory cytokine ...

A new mechanistic model based on the formation of a phagocytic synapse explains how immune cells detect and respond to direct contact with fungal pathogens.

The capacity of human peripheral blood monocytes, neutrophils, and monocyte-derived macrophages to bind the yeast Cryptococcus neoformans was increased when the phagocytes were cultured on surfaces containing recombinant human mannose-binding protein. In contrast, soluble mannose-binding protein had no effect on cryptococcal binding by phagocytes.

Foreign particles and apoptotic cells are engulfed by professional phagocytes (e.g. macrophages) and non-professional phagocytes (e.g. epithelial cells). These phagocyte populations exchange information to coordinate and prioritise their activities, but the nature of these messages was unknown. Recently, IGF-1 and microvesicles were identified as means of communication between macrophages and e...