Phagocytosis

David G Russell, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

Published online: April 2007

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000488.pub2

Phagocytosis is the ingestion of particles by cells. The process is usually observed in macrophages and amoebae and almost invariably culminates in the degradation of the ingested particle in the cell's lysosome. The phagosome functions at the fulcrum of the innate and acquired immune systems and promotes the identification of foreign antigens.

Keywords: phagocytosis; phagocyte; phagosome; macrophage; dendritic cell

Figure 1. A scanning electron micrograph of a promastigote of Leishmania mexicana in the process of being phagocytosed by a murine macrophage. The phagocytic funnel can be seen enveloping the attached parasite in close apposition to the parasite surface.
Figure 2. A graph showing the relative kinetics of acidification of phagosomes formed around either IgG-beads or the pathogen Mycobacterium bovis BCG. The IgG bead-containing phagosome acidifies below pH 5.0 within 10–12 min while the Mycobacterium phagosome exhibits limited acidification. The pH was calculated by fluorescence ratio as detailed in Yates et al. (2005).
Figure 3. An electron micrograph from a cutaneous lesion from a mouse infected with Leishmania mexicana. The amastigote form of the parasite persists in a communal vacuole that fills extensively with fluid. This vacuole intersects fully with the lysosomal system of the host cell.
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 References
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 Further Reading
    Deretic V, Singh S, Master S et al. (2006) Mycobacterium tuberculosis inhibition of phagolysosome biogenesis and autophagy as a host defence mechanism. Cell Microbiology 8(5): 719–727.
    Hamon M, Bierne H and Cossart P (2006) Listeria monocytogenes: a multifaceted model. Nature Reviews of Microbiology 4(6): 423–434.
    Jutras I and Desjardins M (2005) Phagocytosis: at the crossroads of innate and adaptive immunity. Annual Reviews of Cell and Development Biology 21: 511–527.
    Lennon-Dumenil AM, Bakker AH, Maehr R et al. (2002) Analysis of protease activity in live antigen-presenting cells shows regulation of the phagosomal proteolytic contents during dendritic cell activation. The Journal of Experimental Medicine 196(4): 529–540.
    Lindmo K and Stenmark H (2006) Regulation of membrane traffic by phosphoinositide 3-kinases. Journal of Cell Science 119(Pt 4): 605–614.
    Stuart LM and Ezekowitz RA (2005) Phagocytosis: elegant complexity. Immunity 22(5): 539–550.
    Touret N, Paroutis P, Terebiznik M et al. (2005) Quantitative and dynamic assessment of the contribution of the ER to phagosome formation. Cell 123(1): 157–170.
    Trombetta ES and Mellman I (2005) Cell biology of antigen processing in vitro and in vivo. Annual Review of Immunology 23: 975–1028.
    Welch MD and Mullins RD (2002) Cellular control of actin nucleation. Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology 18: 247–288.
    Yeung T, Ozdamar B, Paroutis P and Grinstein S (2006) Lipid metabolism and dynamics during phagocytosis. Current Opinion in Cell Biology 18(4): 429–437.

Related Sub-Topics:

Acquired (Adaptive) Immunity | Innate Immunity | Cells of the Immune System | Intracellular and Extracellular Signalling | Cell Compartments and Cellular Organelles
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Article Title: Phagocytosis
 
How to Cite close
Russell, David G(Apr 2007) Phagocytosis. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000488.pub2]