Interaction of human peripheral blood monocytes with apoptotic polymorphonuclear cells.

Macrophages have the potential to recognize apoptotic neutrophils and phagocytose them while the same function for monocytes is uncertain. In fact, early findings indicated that monocytes started to phagocytose neutrophils on the third day of differentiation to macrophages. Here we show, using flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, that peripheral blood monocytes phagocytose apoptotic but not freshly isolated granulocytes.