Frustrated Phagocytic Spreading of J774A-1 Macrophages Ends in Myosin II-Dependent Contraction.

Conventional studies of dynamic phagocytic behavior have been limited in terms of spatial and temporal resolution due to the inherent three-dimensionality and small features of phagocytosis. To overcome these issues, we use a series of frustrated phagocytosis assays to quantitatively characterize phagocytic spreading dynamics. Our investigation reveals that frustrated phagocytic spreading occurs in phases and is punctuated by a distinct period of contraction.