Fusion of phagolysosomes has been previously demonstrated to occur during the incubation of phagolysosome-containing homogenates of Acanthamoeba (Oates and Touster, 1978, J. Cell Biol. 79:217-234). Further studies on this system have shown that methylxanthines (0.2 mM) and/or cAMP (0.5-1 mM) markedly accelerate the average rate, but not the extent, of the in vitro phagolysosome fusion process. ...

Front Cover: Nanocomplexes of acid-transforming chitosan (ATC) and DNA fragments are endocytosed to Salmonella Typhimurium-infected macrophages. The mildly acidic environment in the phagolysosome converts ATC an antimicrobial which is subsequently released from nanocomplexes effectively eradicates S. Typhimurium both cytoplasm via tackling a broad range key microbial proteins. This reported by ...

Phagocytosis is the process whereby cells engulf large particles, usually over 0.5 micro m in diameter. Phagocytosis is triggered by the interaction of opsonins that cover the particle to be internalized with specific receptors on the surface of the phagocyte. The best-studied phagocytic receptors include the Fc receptors (FcR) that bind to the Fc portion of immunoglobulins. Cross-linking of Fc...

Phagocytosis of apoptotic cells requires recognition of cell corpses followed by internalization and enclosure within plasma membrane-derived phagosomes. Phagosomes undergo maturation to generate phagolysosomes in which cell corpses are degraded; however, regulation of the maturation process is poorly understood. Here, we identified Rab GTPase 14, which regulates apoptotic cell degradation in C...

Central to understanding the pathogenesis of tuberculosis is the interaction between the pathogen and mononuclear phagocytes. A key question about that interaction is whether Mycobacterium tuberculosis exerts an effect on phagolysosome fusion. We have reexamined the dynamics of phagolysosome fusion and its effect on intracellular bacterial replication in M. tuberculosis-infected macrophages by ...

Invasive bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (IBPA) is a life-threatening disease in immunocompromised patients. Although Aspergillus terreus is frequently found in the environment, A. fumigatus is by far the main cause of IBPA. However, once A. terreus establishes infection in the host, disease is as fatal as A. fumigatus infections. Thus, we hypothesized that the initial steps of disease establish...