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

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

External links


Contents of the granules of granulocytes
Categories