Use of back-scatter electron signals to visualise cellanowires interactions in vitro and in vivo; frustrated phagocytosis of long fibres in macrophages and compartmentalisation in mesothelial cells in vivo

摘要

BackgroundFrustrated phagocytosis has been stated as an important factor in the initiation of an inflammatory response after fibre exposure. The length of fibrous structures has been linked to the potential of fibres to induce adverse health effects for at least 40 years. However, we only recently reported for the first time the threshold length for fibre-induced inflammation in the pleural space and we implicated frustrated phagocytosis in the pro-inflammatory effects of long fibres. This study extends the examination of the threshold value for frustrated phagocytosis using well-defined length classes of silver nanowires (AgNW) ranging from 3–28 μm and describes in detail the morphology of frustrated phagocytosis using a novel technique and also describes compartmentalisation of fibres in the pleural space.