The Immune System: The Macrophage

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The macrophage is a large white blood cell within the immune system.A macrophage is an amoeba-type cell and they are produced from white blood cells called monocytes, which are formed by stem cells within the bone marrow. Monocytes passes through the bloodstream and when they leave the blood, they mature and become macrophages. It is responsible to locate microscopic foreign bodies and to engulf them. Macrophages use the process of phagocytosis to engulf particles and then digest them.

The process commences by the macrophage engulfing the particle/microorganisms, leading to the formation of a pocket called a phagosome around it.Then the organelle lysosome releases enzymes into the phagosome, to digest the particle/microorganism.The remaining

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