Monocyte Subsets Have Distinct Patterns of Tetraspanin Expression and Different Capacities to Form Multinucleate Giant Cells

Abstract excerpt

Monocytes are able to undergo homotypic fusion to produce different types of multinucleated giant cells, such as Langhans giant cells in response to M. tuberculosis infection, or foreign body giant cells in response to implanted biomaterials. Monocyte fusion is highly coordinated and complex, with various soluble, intracellular and cell surface components mediating different stages of the process. Tetraspanins...