PMID: 7522254Oct 1, 1994Paper

Apoptotic neutrophils are phagocytosed by fibroblasts with participation of the fibroblast vitronectin receptor and involvement of a mannose/fucose-specific lectin

The Journal of Immunology : Official Journal of the American Association of Immunologists
S E HallC Haslett

Abstract

The fate of neutrophils (PMNs) at sites of inflammation is important to our understanding of many disease processes. Previously, it had been widely assumed that extravasated PMNs inevitably disintegrated before their fragments were removed by local phagocytes, but we have recently described an alternative process whereby senescent PMNs undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death). This process leads to macrophage (Mphi) ingestion of the intact cell by a novel phagocytic recognition process. In this study, we show that monolayers of fibroblasts also can selectively phagocytose apoptotic PMNs and that the recognition of apoptotic PMNs by fibroblasts involves two distinct mechanisms: one uses the vitronectin receptor, as in Mphi ingestion of PMNs; the other uses a mannose/fucose-specific lectin, which plays no part in Mphi phagocytosis of apoptotic PMNs. The direct interactions between PMNs and fibroblasts demonstrated herein may have implications for our understanding of the relationship between inflammation and scarring in many diseases.

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis

Adhesion Molecules in Health and Disease

Cell adhesion molecules are a subset of cell adhesion proteins located on the cell surface involved in binding with other cells or with the extracellular matrix in the process called cell adhesion. In essence, cell adhesion molecules help cells stick to each other and to their surroundings. Cell adhesion is a crucial component in maintaining tissue structure and function. Discover the latest research on adhesion molecule and their role in health and disease here.