Experimental and calculated parameters on particle phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages

mental and calculated parameters on particle phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages. J Appl Physiol 92: 2608–2616, 2002; 10.1152/japplphysiol.01067.2001.—Phagocytosis of three types of fluorescein-labeled test particles by rat alveolar macrophages (AM) were studied: spherical silica (3.2 m), heat-killed Can-dida albicans (3.8 m), and heat-killed Cryptococcus neofor-mans (6.1 m) opsonized with specific IgG. These particles should attach to scavenger, mannose, and Fc receptors, re-spectively. Both control AM and AM pretreated for 20 h with interferon- (12.5 or 50 U/ml) were studied. The sum of the number of attached and ingested particles per AM (accumu-lated attachment) was used as a measure of the attachment process, and the number of ingested particles per AM divided by the accumulated attachment (ingested fraction) was used as a measure of the ingestion process. The average ingestio