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Macrophages (/ ˈ m æ k r oʊ f eɪ dʒ /; abbreviated Mφ, MΦ or MP) are a type of white blood cell of the innate immune system that engulf and digest pathogens, such as cancer cells, microbes, cellular debris and foreign substances, which do not have proteins that are specific to healthy body cells on their surface.
Macrophage polarization is a process by which macrophages adopt different functional programs in response to the signals from their microenvironment. This ability is connected to their multiple roles in the organism: they are powerful effector cells of the innate immune system, but also important in removal of cellular debris, embryonic development and tissue repair.
Micrograph showing hemosiderin-laden alveolar macrophages, as seen in a pulmonary hemorrhage. H&E stain. An alveolar macrophage, pulmonary macrophage, (or dust cell) is a type of macrophage, a professional phagocyte, found in the airways and at the level of the alveoli in the lungs, but separated from their walls. [1]
The mononuclear phagocyte system and the monocyte macrophage system refer to two different entities, often mistakenly understood as one. [citation needed] "Reticuloendothelial system" is an older term for the mononuclear phagocyte system, but it is used less commonly now, as it is understood that most endothelial cells are not macrophages. [2]
Macrophages are remarkably plastic cells which in order to adapt to different tissue microenvironments can assume a range of different phenotypes. Accordingly, macrophages can exhibit either pro- or anti-inflammatory phenotypes and are routinely classified into M1 ( classically activated ) phenotype and M2 ( alternatively activated ) phenotype ...
Regulatory macrophages (Mregs) represent a subset of anti-inflammatory macrophages. In general, macrophages are a very dynamic and plastic cell type and can be divided into two main groups: classically activated macrophages (M1) and alternatively activated macrophages (M2). [1] M2 group can further be divided into sub-groups M2a, M2b, M2c, and ...
The study of the molecular and cellular components that form the immune system, including their function and interaction, is the central science of immunology. The immune system is divided into a more primitive innate immune system and an acquired or adaptive immune system of vertebrates , each of which contain both humoral and cellular immune ...
Macrophages have been classified as M1 or M2 depending on the adaptive immune response that elicited the phenotype: Th1 or Th2 respectively. [2] [4] [5] The phrase 'alternatively activated macrophage' is used to refer to M2 macrophages. [2] Regulatory macrophages do not fit into the M1/M2 classification system, and they display different ...