Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Cui W
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1473173 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Cui Weiguo W Ke Juan Zhang JZ Zhang Qing Q Ke Hua-Zhu HZ Chalouni Cécile C Vignery Agnès A
Blood 20050929 2
Macrophages seed all tissues in which they have the ability, in specific and rare instances, to fuse with themselves and to differentiate into osteoclasts in bone or into giant cells in chronic inflammatory reactions. Although these cells play a central role in osteoporosis and in foreign body rejection, respectively, the molecular mechanism used by macrophages to fuse remains poorly understood. Macrophages might also fuse with somatic and tumor cells to promote tissue repair and metastasis, res ...[more]