title: Chemotaxis: basic aspects of methodology, mechanisms and pathology.
abstract: This review is an attempt to discuss the basic conceptual tools that are a prerequisite for any clinical study of chemotactic defects. They include familiarity with definitions of common terms and with the merits and drawbacks of the several possible in vivo and in vitro assay methods. Cellular mechanisms involved in locomotion are complex. They include basic requirements for cell metabolism as well as receptor recognition, attachment to surfaces and contraction of the cytoskeleton of the cell. Of the many chemotactic factors reported, few are well characterized and universally agreed upon. Similarly, with the use of more stringent criteria, a number of clinical defects of chemotaxis have proven transitory or even artifactual.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000502:physiology; D002634:Chemotaxis, Leukocyte / Q000187:drug effects; D003095:Collagen Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D003182:Complement C5 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D015936:Complement C5a; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D009240:N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine / Q000502:physiology; D010585:Phagocyte Bactericidal Dysfunction / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D010587:Phagocytosis; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D044042:Receptors, Formyl Peptide; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D003182:Complement C5; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D044042:Receptors, Formyl Peptide; D009240:N-Formylmethionine Leucyl-Phenylalanine; D015936:Complement C5a