DO MACROPHAGES KILL THROUGH APOPTOSIS

Macrophages can kill target cells independent of conventional immune s pecificity. Based on a re-examination of literature three decades old and recent experiments, Antonios Aliprantis and colleagues propose tha t macrophages kill target cells by inducing apoptosis. For this purpos e, macrophages employ a selection of pro-apoptotic mediators including reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and tumour necrosis factor alpha .