Microscopy-Based Tracking and Quantification Methods to Study Phagosome Resolution.

Phagosome resolution is a newly defined, terminal stage in the process of phagocytosis. During this phase, phagolysosomes are fragmented into smaller vesicles, which we called phagosome-derived vesicles (PDVs). PDVs gradually accumulate within macrophages, while the phagosomes diminish in size until the organelles are no longer detectable.

Filamentous Bacteria as Targets to Study Phagocytosis.

Filamentous targets are internalized via phagocytic cups that last for several minutes before closing to form a phagosome. This characteristic offers the possibility to study key events in phagocytosis with greater spatial and temporal resolution than is possible to achieve using spherical particles, for which the transition from a phagocytic cup to an enclosed phagosome occurs within a few seconds after particle attachment. In this chapter, we provide methodologies to prepare filamentous bacteria and describe how they can be used as targets to study different aspects of phagocytosis.

Aluminum hydroxide adjuvant diverts the uptake and trafficking of genetically detoxified pertussis toxin to lysosomes in macrophages.

Aluminum salts have been successfully utilized as adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity of vaccine antigens since the 1930s. However, the cellular mechanisms behind the immune adjuvanticity effect of these materials in antigen-presenting cells are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the uptake and trafficking of aluminum oxy-hydroxide (AlOOH), in RAW 264.