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Professional phagocytes play an important role in the clearance of microbial pathogens and apoptotic cells. Many receptors are involved in this process, some with signalling capabilities, some without. Increasing evidence now shows a previously unappreciated regulatory component to phagocytosis exerted by the concomitant engagement of signalling receptors. The engagement of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) during phagocytosis of microbial pathogens is the best characterised example. Here, a brief overview is presented of the findings that TLRs exert positive and phagosome autonomous control on both the kinetics and outcomes of phagosome maturation. Although phagosomes could mature in the absence of TLR signals, they did so at a slower constitutive rate