- heterophagy
- Digestion within a cell of an exogenous substance phagocytosed from the cell's environment. [hetero- + G. phago, to eat]
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het·er·oph·a·gy .het-ə-'räf-ə-jē n, pl -gies digestion in a fused vacuole and lysosome of material taken into a cell by phagocytosis or pinocytosishet·ero·pha·gic -rō-'fā-jik adj* * *
het·er·oph·a·gy (het″ər-ofґə-je) [hetero- + -phagy] the taking into a cell of exogenous material by phagocytosis or pinocytosis, and digestion of the ingested material after fusion of the newly formed vacuole with a lysosome. Cf. autophagy.
Medical dictionary. 2011.