dictionary help| phagosome | medical dictionary |
<cell biology> A membrane-bound cytoplasmic vesicle that forms around a particle (bacterial or other) by invagination of phagocytised material.
It forms within the phagocyte that engulfed it, then separates from the cell membrane, and fuses with and receives the contents of cytoplasmic granules (lysosomes), thus forming a phagolysosome, in which the hydrolytic enzymes of the lysosome digest the phagocytised material.
Origin: L. Phagedaena, Gr Phago, To eat. Soma, body
phagolysosome, phagolytic, phagomania, phagophobia < Prev | Next > phagotype, phainopepla, phakic eye
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