Azurophil or primary granules were originally defined by their high content of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and their affinity for the basic dye azure A (Spicer & Hardin 1969). Azurophil granules are generally described as spherical. Like lysosomes, they contain CD63 in their membrane (Cham et al. 1994) but are regarded as specialized secretory granules rather than lysosomes (Cieutat et al. 1998). Azurophil granules undergo limited exocytosis in response to stimulation (Sengelov et al. 1993, Faurschou et al. 2002), their primary role is believed to be killing and degradation of engulfed microbes in the phagolysosome (Joiner et al. 1989).
Le Cabec, V, Borregaard, N, Calafat, J, Cowland, JB
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