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Eosinophil
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The eosinophil is a type of white blood cell, and it belongs to the group called granulocytes, cells that carry granules inside them. Its own granules are packed with basic proteins, and those granules are the ones that stain red or pink when the sample is prepared, which is where its name comes from. Its nucleus has two lobes, like two beads joined together.
It is made in the bone marrow, the tissue inside the bones where blood is produced, driven by a signal called IL-5. And here is the curious part: once it leaves the marrow, it does not mature any further. It goes off to live in the tissues.
The way it acts is by unloading its cargo. When it is activated it degranulates, meaning it empties its granules into the tissue, and releases cationic proteins, among them proteolytic enzymes, which are enzymes able to break down other proteins. Its granules are a storehouse that empties into the tissue, not into the blood. That same content that serves as a defense can also harm the host, meaning the body itself.
In brief
The eosinophil is a granulocyte found in the blood, with a bilobed nucleus and cytoplasmic granules of basic proteins that stain red or pink.
It develops in the bone marrow driven by IL-5, and once it leaves, it stops maturing and settles in the tissues.
When activated it degranulates, releasing cationic proteins into the tissue, among them proteolytic enzymes that can also harm the host.
Its granules are a storehouse that empties into the tissue, not into the blood.
Sources (2)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingEosinophilia, StatPearlsPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingHistology, White Blood Cell, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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