How to Use macrophage in a Sentence

macrophage

noun
  • First, mast cells branched away from the early macrophages.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 25 May 2026
  • Where macrophages are found in alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs.
    — The Conversation, oregonlive, 26 Jan. 2023
  • These large cells, called macrophages, are the cleanup crew of the immune system.
    — Washington Post, 12 Sep. 2019
  • As part of this process, immune cells called macrophages migrate to the fat tissue.
    — Bradley J. Fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, 21 Sep. 2017
  • Her subject was macrophages, big, hungry cells on the front lines of the defense.
    — Judith Shulevitz, New York Times, 11 June 2018
  • As a result, the body views a tattoo as a wound and sends out macrophages, or white blood cells, to heal the area.
    — Devika Rao, The Week, 10 May 2023
  • Once inside the macrophage, the bacteria or virus is torn apart by enzymes.
    — Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 19 Apr. 2016
  • No such monocyte or macrophage infection was seen in the control group of healthy blood donors.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 21 Apr. 2022
  • In many tumors, macrophages support cancer growth rather than suppress it.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 7 Jan. 2026
  • When that happens, broken down cells release lipids, which can make their way into macrophages.
    — Andrew Joseph, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2019
  • By adding the donor’s own immune cells (macrophages) to the chip, the team watched the war unfold in real time.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 1 Jan. 2026
  • Then there are the reapers, creatures with tentacles that took a cue from the macrophage (a type of white blood cell).
    — Carolyn Giardina, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Dec. 2022
  • There are cells called macrophages that go after invading microbes.
    — Josh Fischman, Scientific American, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Less than 10% of the macrophages treated solely with saline had pseudopods.
    — The Economist, 14 Sep. 2017
  • This approach removes the need to modify macrophages outside the body.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 7 Jan. 2026
  • These bind with proteins on a virus’s surface, disabling it and marking it for destruction by cells called macrophages.
    — The Economist, 1 Apr. 2020
  • Cells that store fat, or adipocytes, and immune cells, such as macrophages, that live in fat tissue can remember weight long after it’s lost.
    — Lori Youmshajekian, Scientific American, 26 Feb. 2026
  • As a tattoo is given, macrophages descend to capture invading ink.
    — Steph Yin, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2018
  • Larsen, of Mayo Clinic Arizona, said the team found some signs of lipids in macrophages, though not large amounts.
    — Andrew Joseph, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2019
  • After anthrax spores enter the animal’s body, immune cells known as macrophages pick up these spores for removal.
    — Hannah Kinzer, The Conversation, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Smoke can also hamper what's called the macrophage function, the ability of lungs to protect themselves.
    — Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY, 21 June 2024
  • Smoke can also hamper what's called the macrophage function, the ability of lungs to protect themselves.
    — George Petras, USA TODAY, 8 June 2023
  • Some of these cells, called macrophages, recognize invasive microbes as foreign and swallow them up.
    — Stephani Sutherland, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2024
  • Purple illustrated macrophages, white blood cells in the immune system.
    — Hannah Millington, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Sep. 2025
  • In the case of the influenza vaccine, the response is directed by dendritic cells, not by macrophages.
    — Jay Kakade december 20, New Atlas, 20 Dec. 2025
  • She was struck by her observation that macrophages, amoebalike cells in the immune system, had the most vaults of any human cells.
    — Byjohn Travis, science.org, 6 June 2024
  • The initial immune response involves cells of the body’s innate immune system, such as macrophages and neutrophils.
    — Laura Haynes, Washington Post, 17 Feb. 2018
  • After the two weeks on the red-meat diet, the mice had a larger amount of immune cells – especially neutrophils and macrophages – in the colon.
    — New Atlas, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Once trained, half the birds were injected with clodronate liposomes to deplete macrophages in the liver, while the other half served as a control group.
    — ArsTechnica, 28 May 2026
  • Two categories of immune cells already known when Barry entered the field were lymphocytes and macrophages.
    — Marc Lipsitch, STAT, 30 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'macrophage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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