fagolisosomal
Fagolisosomal is an adjectival form derived from the term fagolisosome, a theoretical organelle proposed to describe the fusion product of a fagosome and a lysosome in the process of cellular digestion. The word is a portmanteau of “fago,” from the Greek phagein meaning “to eat,” and “lysosome,” the lysosomal organelle responsible for hydrolytic degradation within eukaryotic cells. In scientific literature the term is rarely used; most studies refer to the structure as a phagolysosome. The adjective fagolisosomal is occasionally employed to emphasize the joint contribution of phagocytic engulfment mechanisms and lysosomal enzymatic activity in the maturation of intracellular vesicles.
In the phagocytosis pathway, a fagosome is created when a phagocyte engulfs an external particle such as
Because the terminology is not widely standardized, many journals and textbooks choose the conventional term phagolysosomal
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