In Vitro Study of Cytophysiological Characteristics of Multinuclear Macrophages from Intact and BCG-Infected Mice.

Peritoneal macrophages were isolated from intact and BCG-infected BALB/c mice and explanted in vitro. Multinuclear macrophages formed in these cultures differed by the number of nuclei, expression of apoptosis inductors and regulators (TNF-α, p53 protein, caspase 3, and Bcl-2 protein), and cytophysiological characteristics (phagocytic activity, ROS generation, and antimycobacterial properties). Our results indicate that the formation of multinuclear macrophages is accompanied by induction of apoptosis (p53 signaling pathway) and appearance of multinuclear macrophage-derived cells characterized by high phagocytic and antimycobacterial activity.