Hofbauer cell
{{Short description|Oval eosinophilic histiocytes}}
Hofbauer cells are oval eosinophilic histiocytes{{cite book|last=Venes|first=Donald|title=Taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/taberscyclopedic19vene|url-access=registration|year=2006|publisher=Davis Co.|location=Philadelphia [Pa.]|isbn=0-8036-1208-7|edition=Ed. 20, illustrated in full color.}} with granules and vacuoles found in the placenta, which are of mesenchymal origin, in mesoderm of the chorionic villi, particularly numerous in early pregnancy.
Etymology
They are named after J. Isfred Isidore Hofbauer (1871{{Cite news|date=1961-03-15|title=Dr. Isfred Hofbauer, a Gynecologist, 89|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/03/15/archives/dr-isfred-hofbauer-a-gynecologist-89.html|access-date=2020-10-05|issn=0362-4331}}-1961), a German-American gynecologist who described the cell type in his book {{lang|de|Grundzüge einer Biologie der menschlichen Plazenta,
mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Fragen der fötalen Ernährung}} (Biology of the Human Placenta with a special emphasis on the question of fetal nourishment).
Function
They are believed to be a type of macrophage{{Cite journal | last1 = Wood | first1 = GW. | title = Mononuclear phagocytes in the human placenta. | journal = Placenta | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | pages = 113–23 | year = 1980| doi = 10.1016/s0143-4004(80)80019-1| pmid = 7003580 }}{{Cite journal | last1 = Zaccheo | first1 = D. | last2 = Pistoia | first2 = V. | last3 = Castellucci | first3 = M. | last4 = Martinoli | first4 = C. | title = Isolation and characterization of Hofbauer cells from human placental villi. | journal = Arch Gynecol Obstet | volume = 246 | issue = 4 | pages = 189–200 | year = 1989 | doi = 10.1007/bf00934518| pmid = 2482706 | s2cid = 30920736 }} and are most likely involved in preventing the transmission of pathogens from the mother to the fetus (vertical transmission). Although there are many studies concerning placental vasculogenesis and angiogenesis, there has been a lack of evidence on the possible roles of Hofbauer cells in these processes.{{Cite journal | last1 = Seval | first1 = Y. | last2 = Korgun | first2 = ET. | last3 = Demir | first3 = R. | title = Hofbauer cells in early human placenta: possible implications in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. | journal = Placenta | volume = 28 | issue = 8–9 | pages = 841–5 | year = 2007| doi = 10.1016/j.placenta.2007.01.010 | pmid = 17350092 }} According to a systems level single-cell transcriptomics based study of human placental cell-cell communication, Hofbauer cells produce HBE-GF, an EGFR ligand, which drives differentiation of villous cytotrophoblasts towards syncytiotrophoblasts.{{cite journal|last1=Vento-Tormo|first1=Roser|last2=Efremova|first2=Mirjana|last3=Botting|first3=Rachel A.|last4=Turco|first4=Margherita Y.|last5=Vento-Tormo|first5=Miquel|last6=Meyer|first6=Kerstin B.|last7=Park|first7=Jong-Eun|last8=Stephenson|first8=Emily|last9=Polański|first9=Krzysztof|last10=Goncalves|first10=Angela|last11=Gardner|first11=Lucy|last12=Holmqvist|first12=Staffan|last13=Henriksson|first13=Johan|last14=Zou|first14=Angela|last15=Sharkey|first15=Andrew M.|last16=Millar|first16=Ben|last17=Innes|first17=Barbara|last18=Wood|first18=Laura|last19=Wilbrey-Clark|first19=Anna|last20=Payne|first20=Rebecca P.|last21=Ivarsson|first21=Martin A.|last22=Lisgo|first22=Steve|last23=Filby|first23=Andrew|last24=Rowitch|first24=David H.|last25=Bulmer|first25=Judith N.|last26=Wright|first26=Gavin J.|last27=Stubbington|first27=Michael J. T.|last28=Haniffa|first28=Muzlifah|last29=Moffett|first29=Ashley|last30=Teichmann|first30=Sarah A.|title=Single-cell reconstruction of the early maternal–fetal interface in humans|journal=Nature|volume=563|issue=7731|year=2018|pages=347–353|issn=0028-0836|doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0698-6|pmid=30429548|pmc=7612850 |bibcode=2018Natur.563..347V |url=https://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/fulltext.aspx?url=253209/5307C9D4-195F-4436-8401-914EEFAD7198.pdf&pub_id=253209}}
Histology
Image:Chorionic_villi_-_very_high_mag.jpg of chorionic villi with Hofbauer cells. H&E stain.]]
Under histology sections, Hofbauer cells have appeared with discernible amount of cytoplasm.