Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41387582›Full record

ArticleNature cell biology2025

Target cell cortical tension regulates macrophage trogocytosis.

Caitlin E Cornell, Aymeric Chorlay, Deepak Krishnamurthy, Nicholas R Martin, Lucia Baldauf, Daniel A Fletcher

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature cell biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Macrophage Trogocytosis of Tumor Cells Drives the Immunosuppression of Tumor Microenvironment.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article
  2. Microglia extract neuronal proteolytic organelles via skoupocytosis.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Trogocytosis in cancer immunity and cellular immunotherapy: mechanisms, therapeutic challenges, and translational opportunities.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Caitlin E CornellDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Aymeric ChorlayDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Deepak KrishnamurthyDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Nicholas R MartinCardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Lucia BaldaufLondon Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, London, UK.
Daniel A FletcherDepartment of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. fletch@berkeley.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1890-5364

Funding

Mechanical Regulation of Actin Binding ProteinsR01GM134137 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · PI FLETCHER, DANIEL A · 2019 to 2022
$1.5M
National Science Foundation (NSF) DBI-1548297NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM134137U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01GM134137
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Macrophages are known to engulf small membrane fragments, or trogocytose, target cells and pathogens, rather than fully phagocytose them. However, little is known about what causes macrophages to choose trogocytosis versus phagocytosis. Here we report that cortical tension of target cells is a key regulator of macrophage trogocytosis. At low tension, macrophages will preferentially trogocytose antibody-opsonized cells, while at high tension, they tend towards phagocytosis. Using model vesicles, we demonstrate that macrophages will rapidly switch from trogocytosis to phagocytosis when membrane tension is increased. Stiffening the cortex of target cells also biases macrophages to phagocytose them, a trend that can be countered by increasing antibody surface density and is captured in a mechanical model of trogocytosis. This work suggests that the target cell, rather than the macrophage, determines whether phagocytosis or trogocytosis occurs, and that macrophages do not require a distinct molecular pathway for trogocytosis.

Indexed as

Cell MembraneMacrophagesPhagocytosisAnimalsMiceMice, Inbred C57BL

Identifiers

PMID41387582
PMCPMC12716991

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.