What is phagocytosis? What does it involve?
What will be an ideal response?
Phagocytosis is a process by which a cell can engulf substances and internalize them into the cytoplasm. Cells that are capable of phagocytosis are collectively known as phagocytes and include neutrophils, eosinophils, dendritic cells, and macrophages. Phagocytosis is part of the body's second line of defense, and it is nonspecific. It includes the following steps:
Chemotaxis: A cell moves either toward or away from a chemical stimulus.
Adherence: The phagocyte attaches to the pathogen, through binding of complementary chemicals on the membranes of the pathogen.
Ingestion: After the pseudopodia adhere to the pathogen, the encompassed microbe is internalized as the pseudopodia fuse to form a sac called a phagosome.
Digestion: Lysosomes with over 30 digestive enzymes attach to the phagosome and break down the microbe. At the end of this process, the remains of the phagosome are known as the residual body.
Elimination: The phagocyte rids itself of undigested material by exocytosis, which is the opposite of ingestion.
You might also like to view...
Bacteria and Archaea both have members that use sulfur compounds as a terminal electron acceptor
Indicate whether this statement is true or false.
One mechanism of genomic imprinting silences an allele by DNA ____
a. methylation b. mutation c. transposition d. deletion e. inversion
Refer to the accompanying figure. What structure is designated by label B?
a. activation gate b. inactivation gate c. modulatory sensor d. transport pump e. transport sensor
When tracing the path of blood, the blood vessel that follows the renal artery is the
A. peritubular capillary B. efferent arteriole C. afferent arteriole D. renal vein E. glomerulus