Do macrophages kill through apoptosis?
Macrophages can kill target cells independent of conventional immune specificity. Based on a re-examination of literature three decades old and recent experiments, Antonios Aliprantis and colleagues propose that macrophages kill target cells by inducing apoptosis. For this purpose, macrophages employ a selection of pro-apoptotic mediators including reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and tumour necrosis factor alpha.
Aliprantis
A O
AO
Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, New York University Medical Center, Dept of Cell Biology, NY 10016, USA.
Diez-Roux
G
G
Mulder
L C
LC
Zychlinsky
A
A
Lang
R A
RA
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology*