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Review
. 1996 Nov;4(11):453-5.
doi: 10.1016/0966-842x(96)10067-6.

How do macrophages distinguish the living from the dead?

C Cheers  1 , Y Zhan
Affiliations
Review

How do macrophages distinguish the living from the dead?

C Cheers et al. Trends Microbiol. 1996 Nov.

Abstract

Injection of live but not dead bacteria induces a wave of IL-12 and subsequently, IFN-gamma production. Surprisingly, in vitro, both live and dead bacteria elicit IL-12 from macrophages. Better understanding of how macrophages distinguish live from dead bacteria would help explain this difference and possibly bypass the need for live vaccines against intracellular bacteria.

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