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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Study of Phagolysosome Biogenesis in Live Macrophages
Published on: March 11, 2014
Pathogen destruction versus intracellular survival: the role of lipids as phagosomal fate determinants
Benjamin E Steinberg1, Sergio Grinstein
1Program in Cell Biology, Hospital for Sick Children, Institute of Medical Science and Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract:
Phagocytosis is a key component of the innate immune response and of the clearance of apoptotic bodies. Phagosome formation and subsequent maturation require extensive cytoskeletal rearrangement and precisely choreographed vesicular fusion and fission events. The objectives of this review are to highlight the functional importance of lipids in the phagocytic process, to discuss how pathogenic microorganisms can in some cases manipulate host lipid metabolism to either co-opt or disrupt phagosome maturation and promote their own survival, and to describe how defective phagosomal lipid metabolism can result in disease.
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