Plus it was captured on black and white film before I was born! Barely.

Umm… I hate to do this, but could some of you deal with Mr. I.M. Stupid who calls himself Dr. I.M. Smart? Personally I am tired of the idiot. He has no clue that he has not answered the question that he posed to me.

Thanks.

Also, this may be the smallest manifestation of OM NOM NOM I’ve ever seen.

BTW, Phil, the more common names for a PMN are “poly” and “seg” (short for segmented). I doubt you want to be called Polly, but it wouldn’t be horrible to be known as “segsy”.

- Jack

Another cool cell video, if you haven’t seen it, was developed from the science people out at Harvard about a year and a half ago.

This is the version with no dialogue, which I like better, since I can tell what’s going on. Most of the protein stuctures, if not all, have actually been solved, so you could say that the ‘cartoons’ are pretty real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtZEqQ1cpmk

Also, as others above said, the neutrophil, eosinophil, and basophil words have to do with their staining characteristic under the Wright’s stain. Eosinophils have more acidic granules, which attract eosin; basophils have basic granules, which attracts methylene blue; and neutrophils usually have a little granulation that’s generally neutral. In fact, excess neutrophil granulation (called toxic granulation) can help diagnose a disease state.

neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils branch off from the same cell lines, and have different purposes. Neutrophils eat foreign bodies, especially bacteria, and the granules inside use hydrogen peroxide to kill them; and have a role in the complement pathway, which can destroy foreign cells (by forming what amounts to a microscopic auger to “pop” the cell) or labels them for destruction. Eosinophils are associated with allergies and parasites, and their granules contain chemicals like histamine. Basophils have some association with some parasites and allergies as well, although we’re not as clear on their purpose. They’re also more abundant in heavy metal poisoning.

And that’s only one branch of white blood cells. There are two other main branches!

You could call yourself “basophil” – that’s a more decisive and masculine name. Eosinophil is just as decisive but I think it has a more feminine sound.

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No make my brew; I brew it right.
Let those who sip commercial swill
Beware my power… HOME BREWER SKILL!

PMNs are a type of immune cell including neutrophils, basophils, and eosinophils. The names are based on the cytological stains used to observe them.

So, the first superhero named after a stain?

Surely then his faithful sidekick superhero dog must be Spot?!

In the description below the video, it states:

The chemo-attractant derived from the microbe is unclear, but may be complement fragment C5a, generated by the interaction of antibodies in the blood serum with the complement cascade, and/or bacterial N-formyl peptides.

P.S. Wikipedia: C5a receptor; Complement component 5a.

OK, for all you microbiologists, how do you get “neutrophil” out of “polymorphonuclear leukocyte”? I can sort of see “neutro” out of “nuclear” but it’s a stretch. Also is the “phil” from “phillic” as in “like” or “attracted to”?

Enquiring minds want to know.

- Jack