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Endo-Lysosomes and Antigen Presentation
For phagocytic immune cells, endosomes and lysosomes are critical organelles. Endosomes transport samples of extracellular material into the cell and eventually fuse with lysosomes to create the endo-lysosomal compartment. In this compartment antigens are processed and loaded onto Major Histocompatibility Complex II (MHC-II) molecules for subsequent antigen presentation to T cells. Although classically recognized as waste-management organelles, in pathogen-stimulated dendritic cells (DC) these degradative abilities are dampened to preserve peptides. In addition to functional changes, endo-lysosomes also transform from globular organelles into far-reaching tubular networks.
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Hello World
I began thinking of myself as a writer when I was ten. I wrote in my diary religiously, submitted poetry to contests, and when asked to submit one or two page stories in English class I submitted ten. I began thinking of myself as a scientist when I was 12. For one of my elective classes I signed up for Genetics where I extracted DNA for the first time from dog testicles, learned about polydactylism, and bred fruit flies in an attempt to create a new mutant.
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