Macrophages are cells of the immune system responsible for clearing up the organism, removing damaged and dead cells, pathogens and other... Show moreMacrophages are cells of the immune system responsible for clearing up the organism, removing damaged and dead cells, pathogens and other foreign substances. They remove and destroy these compounds by a process called phagocytosis, in which the macrophages recognize what is to be destroyed, engulf it and digest it in the lysosome. The phagocytosis mechanism requires special cytoskeleton configurations formed by actin branches that allow the engulfment of substances into the cells. The cytoskeleton structures formed by actin branching are also known to be necessary during the macrophage migration towards its target. Our group has shown that the small cytosolic GdX protein has an important role in the actin filament branching. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the migration ability and the phagocytosis potential of wild-type (WT) and GdX knockout macrophages (KO). Bone marrow cells from mice were isolated and cultured in presence of Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor (MCSF) to induce cell differentiation into macrophages. The bone marrow derived macrophages were then subjected to phagocytosis and migration assays. The results from the phagocytosis assay indicated no significant difference in the percentage of cells capable of internalizing the beads or in the amount of engulfed beads between WT and KO macrophages. However, the results from the migration assay suggested a decrease in the migration ability in GdX KO cells when compared to WT macrophages. Therefore,our results imply that the lack of GdX may cause macrophage dysfunction. M.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology, May 2016 Show less
