pinocytosis

[pin″o-si-to´sis]

a mechanism by which cells ingest extracellular fluid and its contents; it involves the formation of invaginations by the cell membrane, which close and break off to form fluid-filled vacuoles in the cytoplasm (see accompanying illustration). adj., adj pinocytot´ic.

Mechanism of pinocytosis. Tiny droplets of fluid are trapped by the folds of the plasma membrane and engulfed as fluid-filled vesicles into the cytoplasm.

pin·o·cy·to·sis

(pin'ō-sī-tō'sis, pī'nō-),

The cellular process of actively engulfing liquid, a phenomenon in which minute incuppings or invaginations are formed in the surface of the cell membrane and close to form fluid-filled vesicles; it resembles phagocytosis.

[pinocyte + G. -osis, condition]

Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

pinocytosis

(pĭn′ə-sĭ-tō′sĭs, -sī-, pī′nə-)

Introduction of fluids into a cell by invagination of the cell membrane, followed by formation of vesicles within the cells.

pin′o·cy·tot′ic (-tŏt′ĭk) adj.

pin·o·cy·to·sis

(pin'ō-sī-tō'sis)

[pinocyte + G. -osis, condition]

Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

pinocytosis

The process in which cells engulf fluid to form tiny clear spherical containers (vacuoles) which then move through the cell cytoplasm, sometimes acting as scavenging vehicles to be discarded through another part of the cell membrane. Extracellular fluid with dissolved molecules may be moved intracellularly by pinocytosis.

Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005

pinocytosis

micropinocytosis

(‘cell-drinking’) the active engulfing of very small particles or liquids by cells; a form of ENDOCYTOSIS. The particles become surrounded by the cell membrane on all sides, which eventually forms a channel from which vesicles are pinched off and move within the PROTOPLASM before their contents can be transferred into the cell proper.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005

pin·o·cy·to·sis

(pin'ō-sī-tō'sis)

The cellular process of actively engulfing liquid, a phenomenon in which minute incuppings or invaginations are formed in the surface of the cell membrane and close to form fluid-filled vesicles.

[pinocyte + G. -osis, condition]

Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions © Farlex 2012

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References in periodicals archive

Pinocytosis in the developing egg of Limnaea stagnalis.

Intracapsular feeding by embryos of the gastropod genus Littorina

While traveling through those regions, many of the PLG spheres are swallowed by cells in a process called pinocytosis. As the biopolymer slowly degrades, the encapsulated plasmids are released into the cell's fluid interior.

Swallowing Shigella: can bacteria that cause food poisoning deliver oral DNA vaccines?

In pirarucu, the latter function is most likely performed in the S3 region, where absorption vacuoles were often observed in the apical cytoplasm of enterocytes, which can be indicative of protein absorption by pinocytosis (Ezeasor & Stokoe, 1981; Carrasson et al.).

Morphology and Histology of the Pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) Digestive Tract/Morfologia e Histologia del Tubo Digestivo del Paiche (Arapaima gigas)

Since the conjunctival blood vessels do not form a tight junction barrier, bevacizumab can enter into the blood circulation by pinocytosis and/or convective transport through paracellular pores in the vascular endothelial layer.

A clinical study on management of corneal neovascularisation to prevent Corneal transplant failure

The peptides were internalized via pinocytosis by the macrophages and were not effective against nonpinocytotic fibroblasts, presumably because they could not access IFNGR1 cytoplasmic domain.

Noncanonical IFN Signaling: Mechanistic Linkage of Genetic and Epigenetic Events

The CNS also has limited lymphatic drainage and dendritic cells, which are star-shaped cells that are constantly sampling their environment by pinocytosis. It was originally thought that the CNS was devoid of dendritic cells and perhaps that phagocytic microglia may serve a similar function in the CNS.

Immunological barriers to stem cell therapy in the central nervous system

Two diverse mechanisms of endocytosis include phagocytosis and pinocytosis, wherein the difference between the two is the size of target molecules.

Possible implication of Fc[gamma] receptor-mediated trogocytosis in susceptibility to systemic autoimmune disease

In some particular instances, drugs may be absorbed by fluid-phase endocytosis (pinocytosis), an energy-dependent saturable process in which the molecule travels inside membrane vesicles (Figure 1(f)).

Polymeric micelles, a promising drug delivery system to enhance bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs

The transfer of substances and the amount that enters the fetal circulation are tightly controlled by at least four different mechanisms; simple diffusion, active transport, biotransformation through metabolic enzymes, and phagocytosis or pinocytosis (Syme et al.

Barrier capacity of human placenta for nanosized materials

Alternatively, proteins can be actively transported across the blood--CSF barrier via pinocytosis. Because CNS is normally protected from the peripheral circulation, the presence of some bloodderived macromolecules in CSF may indicate a disruption of blood--CSF barrier that is thought to occur during aging as well as in some neurodegenerative disorders (17, 28).

Multiplexed proteomic analysis of oxidation and concentrations of cerebrospinal fluid proteins in Alzheimer disease