1. Macrophages are found in virtually all tissues and are often referred to by different names depending on their location, such as Kupffer cells in the liver, alveolar macrophages in the lungs, and microglia in the brain.
2. Macrophages play a key role in the adaptive immune response by presenting antigens from pathogens to adaptive immune cells.
3. Macrophages exhibit plasticity and can adapt to different microenvironments by adopting functional states, such as the classically activated (M1) and alternatively activated (M2) phenotypes.
4. Some pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacterium that causes tuberculosis), can survive and replicate inside macrophages, using them as reservoirs to evade the immune system.
Image credit: "Macrophages with fluorescent beads"
Fluorescence signals of the beads in confocal LSM detection is overlaid with SEM imaging.Ā
Sample by Jeffrey L. Caplan and Kirk J. Czymmek, Bioimaging Center, Delaware Biotechnology Institute. Imaging: ZEISS Microscopy Labs, Germany.
License Notice: CC BY 4.0
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