1013-Macrophage Sampling of Living Cells

Paper Talk · May 22, 2026 · 23m

This study identifies a novel immune process where macrophages directly sample material from living cells without causing them harm. Unlike the traditional view that immune cells primarily gather self-antigens from dying tissue, researchers discovered a contact-dependent mechanism similar to trogocytosis that extracts submicrometre-sized cytoplasmic vesicles. Using advanced lattice light-sheet imaging and a specialized flow-based organelle profiling method, the authors found that this live-sampled material follows an alternative trafficking pathway that avoids rapid destruction in lysosomes…