MYCOBACTERIA AND LYSOSOMES - A PARADOX

IT is now clear from many experiments that phagocytic cells can usually degrade dead bacteria, and can sometimes kill live ones, in the absence of any specific immune mechanism. The mechanism of degradation involves the enzymes of lysosomes, which are transferred to the phagocytic vacuoles containing bacteria1. The phagocytes can be activated in various ways, so that their capacity for destruction is increased. Activated phagocytes contain more observable lysosomes and measurable lysosomal enzymes2. © 1969 Nature Publishing Group.