Explain the Mechanism of Phagocytosis
In phagocytosis, the organism is entrapped into vacuoles known as "Phagosome". The cytoplasmic granules, organelles or lysosomes fuse with the phagosome releasing powerful microbicidal substance. These substances are divided into:
a) Those which are dependent on O2 mechanism, and
b) Those which are O2 independent mechanisms
Example for O2 dependent mechanism is superoxide anion, singlet O2 hydroxyl free radicals. The O2 independent ones are lysosomes, proteolytic enzymes and several other hydrolytic enzymes.