Specific granule

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Specific granules are secretory vesicles found exclusively in cells of the immune system called granulocytes.

Contents

It is sometimes described as applying specifically to neutrophils, [1] and sometimes the term is applied to other types of cells. [2]

These granules store a mixture of cytotoxic molecules, including many enzymes and antimicrobial peptides, that are released by a process called degranulation following activation of the granulocyte by an immune stimulus.

Specific granules are also known as "secondary granules". [3]

Contents

Examples of cytotoxic molecule stored by specific granules in different granulocytes include:

Clinical significance

A specific granule deficiency can be associated with CEBPE. [4]

References

  1. ↑ "Definition: specific granule from Online Medical Dictionary".
  2. ↑ Okuda M, Takenaka T, Kawabori S, Ogami Y (July 1981). "Ultrastructural study of the specific granule of the human eosinophil". J. Submicrosc. Cytol. 13 (3): 465–71. PMID   7334549.
  3. ↑ John P. Greer; Maxwell Myer Wintrobe (1 December 2008). Wintrobe's clinical hematology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 173–. ISBN   978-0-7817-6507-7 . Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  4. ↑ Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM): SPECIFIC GRANULE DEFICIENCY; SGD - 245480


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