Abstract

Dying cells release 'find-me' factors that attract professional scavenger cells to engulf and digest them. These cellular invitations to dine can take unexpected forms. Apoptosis occurs in essentially all tissues as part of normal development and homeostasis. Yet even in tissues with high cellular turnover, apoptotic cells are rarely seen; this has been attributed to the ability of apoptotic cells to advertise their presence via release of 'find-me' signals to recruit phagocytes and initiate prompt clearance. It has been unclear, however, what type of find-me signals are released by apoptotic cells and how these are sensed by phagocytes. In this paper apoptotic cells are shown to release ATP and UTP that act as a 'find me ' signal and chemoattractant for phagocytes expressing the P2Y2 ATP/UTP receptor.

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