Ubiquinone-8 stimulates phagocytosis in macrophages by modulation of the kinetics of the Fc receptor.

The effect of exogenous ubiquinone-8 (Q8) on IgG- and C3b-mediated phagocytosis of sensitized sheep red blood cells and of opsonized Staphylococcus aureus by macrophages was studied by morphological and quantitative methods. Q8 stimulated the initial events of phagocytosis, that is, attachment and ingestion, in which occupancy of the Fc receptor by IgG was shown to be of critical significance. The kinetics of competitive inhibition of phagocytosis of opsonized bacteria by macrophages by using Fc fragments suggested the intimate role of the kinetics of the Fc receptor in the initial events of phagocytosis and, further, the modulation of the kinetics of the Fc receptor by Q8 as the basis of enhanced phagocytosis by Q8.