IMMUNOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Listen to pronunciation. (FA-goh-sy-TOH-sis) The process by which a phagocyte (a type of white blood cell) surrounds and destroys foreign substances (such as bacteria) and removes dead cells.

Detailed explanation-2: -Phagocytosis consists in recognition and ingestion of particles larger than 0.5 m into a plasma membrane derived vesicle, known as phagosome. Phagocytes can ingest microbial pathogens, but importantly also apoptotic cells.

Detailed explanation-3: -In the 1880s Russian-born zoologist and microbiologist Élie Metchnikoff introduced the term phagocyte in reference to immune cells that engulf and destroy foreign bodies such as bacteria.

Detailed explanation-4: -One type is called phagocytosis (“cellular eating”), which involves the ingestion of large particles, such as microorganisms or dead cells via large vesicles called phagosomes (generally >250 nm in diameter).

Detailed explanation-5: -Phagocytosis is a critical part of the immune system. Several types of cells of the immune system perform phagocytosis, such as neutrophils, macrophages, dendritic cells, and B lymphocytes. The act of phagocytizing pathogenic or foreign particles allows cells of the immune system to know what they are fighting against.