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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

Study of Phagolysosome Biogenesis in Live Macrophages
Published on: March 10, 2014
The life cycle of phagosomes: formation, maturation, and resolution
Roni Levin1,2, Sergio Grinstein1,2,3, Johnathan Canton1
1Program in Cell Biology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Abstract:
Phagocytosis, the regulated uptake of large particles (>0.5 μm in diameter), is essential for tissue homeostasis and is also an early, critical component of the innate immune response. Phagocytosis can be conceptually divided into three stages: phagosome, formation, maturation, and resolution. Each of these involves multiple reactions that require exquisite spatial and temporal orchestration. The molecular events underlying these stages are being unraveled and the current state of knowledge is briefly summarized in this article.
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