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phagocytosis
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alt=|thumb|323x323px|Overview of phagocytosis thumb|300px|Phagocytosis versus exocytosis Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs phagocytosis is called a phagocyte. thumb|The engulfing of a pathogen by a phagocyte In a multicellular organism's immune system, phagocytosis is a major mechanism used to remove pathogens and cell debris. The ingested material is then digested in the phagosome. Bacteria, dead tissue ce
Phagocytosis is a process in which a cell uses its membrane to engulf large particles, forming an internal compartment called a phagosome. In your body's immune system, this process is crucial for removing harmful pathogens and dead cell debris by engulfing and digesting them.
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Research
82,518 papers- Cell death by phagocytosis.ReviewNature reviews. Immunology · 2024Brown GCDOI: 10.1038/s41577-023-00921-6
- [Synaptic phagocytosis by multiple glial cell types].ReviewNihon yakurigaku zasshi. Folia pharmacologica Japonica · 2023Kono R, Ikegaya Y, Koyama RDOI: 10.1254/fpj.23004
- Microglial debris is cleared by astrocytes via C4b-facilitated phagocytosis and degraded via RUBICON-dependent noncanonical autophagy in mice.Nature communications · 2022Zhou T, Li Y, Li X et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33932-3
- Differential phagocytosis induces diverse macrophage activation states in malignant gliomas.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2025Lakshmanachetty S, Riemondy K, Sanford B et al.DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2025-012211
- Comparative Review of Microglia and Monocytes in CNS Phagocytosis.ReviewCells · 2021Andoh M, Koyama RDOI: 10.3390/cells10102555
- Phagocytosis and antigen presentation in dendritic cells.ReviewImmunological reviews · 2007Savina A, Amigorena SDOI: 10.1111/j.1600-065X.2007.00552.x
- Phagocytic microglia and macrophages in brain injury and repair.ReviewCNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2022Yu F, Wang Y, Stetler AR et al.DOI: 10.1111/cns.13899
- Regulation of the rhythmic diversity of daily photoreceptor outer segment phagocytosis in vivo.ReviewFASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2022Moran AL, Fehilly JD, Floss Jones D et al.DOI: 10.1096/fj.202200990RR
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- biological process
- Image
- Fagocitosi - Imatge Muda.svg
Show 3 more facts
- described by source
- Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
- Commons category
- Phagocytosis
- exact match
- purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GO_0006909
via Wikidata · CC0
~11 min read
Encyclopedic overview
13 sectionsContents
- History
- In immune system
- Professional phagocytic cells
- Initiating receptors
- Fcγ receptors
- Complement receptors
- Mannose receptors
- Phagosome
- In apoptosis
- In protists
- See also
- References
- External links
alt=|thumb|323x323px|Overview of phagocytosis thumb|300px|Phagocytosis versus exocytosis Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs phagocytosis is called a phagocyte. thumb|The engulfing of a pathogen by a phagocyte In a multicellular organism's immune system, phagocytosis is a major mechanism used to remove pathogens and cell debris. The ingested material is then digested in the phagosome. Bacteria, dead tissue cells, and small mineral particles are all examples of objects that may be phagocytized. Some protozoa use phagocytosis as means to obtain nutrients. The two main cells that do this are the Macrophages and the Neutrophils of the immune system.
Where phagocytosis is used as a means of feeding and provides the organism part or all of its nourishment, it is called phagotrophy and is distinguished from osmotrophy, which is nutrition taking place by absorption.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “phagocytosis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.