title: Rho GTPases in alveolar macrophage phagocytosis.
abstract: Alveolar macrophages are "professional phagocytes" and critical effector cells that protect the lungs from a broad array of microbes that can cause severe respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia. The molecular mechanisms that mediate microbial phagocytosis in alveolar macrophages are not fully known, and the specific role of small Rho GTPases has not been established. Most studies of Rho GTPase and phagocytosis focus on cell lines and transfected cells, and results may not accurately represent mechanisms operant in the lungs of humans. The use of clinically relevant primary human lung macrophages to examine phagocytosis in the context of host defense function may provide data that translate more readily to human conditions in health and disease. This chapter provides a description of methods and techniques for isolating, culturing, and assaying human alveolar macrophages for studies of small Rho GTPases and phagocytosis in the context of host defense. Data support the concept that different macrophage phagocytic receptors may exhibit distinct molecular mechanisms of small Rho GTPase activation that mediate phagocytosis.
authors: Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors: Henry
authors: H
authors: Koziel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000502:physiology*; D014162:Transfection; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000502:physiology; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein / Q000502:physiology; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein; D020830:rac1 GTP-Binding Protein; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins