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Phagocytosis and development: back to the future
N C Franc1, K White, R A Ezekowitz
1Laboratory of Developmental Immunology and Cutaneous Biology Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Current Opinion in Immunology
|February 27, 1999
Abstract:
Removal of apoptotic cells and micro-organisms is mediated via phagocytosis. Phagocytes express pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) that recognize apoptotic-cell-associated membrane patterns (ACAMPs). Similar ACAMPs and PRRs are used by mammals, Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Some PRRs recognize apoptotic cells and micro-organisms, suggesting overlap between these functions.