The Action of Some Natural Substances on the RES

Work by a number of investigators (Heller [1, 2], Biozzi [3], DiLuzio [4], and Bolis [5]) has shown that a variety of lipids, including those that are normal constituents of cell membranes, may affect the activity of the RES. It was of interest to investigate the activity of some of these membrane lipids not only on the phagocytic activity of the animal as a whole, but also on the isolated phagocytic cell, and upon subcellular membrane-bound structures including the phagocytic vacuole and lysosome. This investigation was expected to increase our understanding of the phagocytic and postphagocytic activities of the cell, as well as to study the relationship between the lipid structure of biological membranes and their function.