MACROPHAGE

Macrophage

Macrophages, sometimes called macrophagocytes, are cells produced by the differentiation of monocytes in tissues. Macrophages were discovered by Ilya Mechnikov, a Russian bacteriologist, in 1884. Human macrophages are about in diameter. Monocytes and macrophages are phagocytes. Macrophages function in both non-specific defense as well as help initiate specific defense mechanisms of vertebrate animals. Macrophages have the unique ability to metabolize one amino acid, arginine, to either a "killer" molecule or a "repair" molecule . Macrophages predominantly expressing the killer or repair phenotype are now mainly called M1 or M2 ...

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macrophage

Noun

  1. A white blood cell that phagocytizes necrotic cell debris and foreign material, including viruses, bacteria, and tattoo ink. It presents foreign antigens on MHC II to lymphocytes. Part of the innate immune system.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: macrophage
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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