Hofbauer cells are oval

eosinophilic Eosinophilic (Greek suffix '' -phil'', meaning ''eosin-loving'') describes the staining of tissues, cells, or organelles after they have been washed with eosin, a dye commonly used in histological staining. Eosin is an acidic dye for stainin ...

histiocyte A histiocyte is a vertebrate cell that is part of the mononuclear phagocyte system (also known as the reticuloendothelial system or lymphoreticular system). The mononuclear phagocytic system is part of the organism's immune system. The histiocy ...

s with granules and

vacuole A vacuole () is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in Plant cell, plant and Fungus, fungal Cell (biology), cells and some protist, animal, and bacterial cells. Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with water ...

s found in the

placenta The placenta (: placentas or placentae) is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas, and waste exchange between ...

, which are of

mesenchymal Mesenchyme () is a type of loosely organized animal embryonic connective tissue of undifferentiated cells that give rise to most tissues, such as skin, blood, or bone. The interactions between mesenchyme and epithelium help to form nearly ever ...

origin, in

mesoderm The mesoderm is the middle layer of the three germ layers that develops during gastrulation in the very early development of the embryo of most animals. The outer layer is the ectoderm, and the inner layer is the endoderm.Langman's Medical ...

of the

chorionic villi Chorionic villi are Wiktionary:villus, villi that sprout from the chorion to provide maximal contact area with maternal blood. They are an essential element in pregnancy from a histology, histomorphologic perspective, and are, by definition, a pr ...

, particularly numerous in early

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

Etymology

They are named after J. Isfred Isidore Hofbauer (1871-1961), a German-American gynecologist who described the cell type in his book (''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 Macrophages (; abbreviated MPhi, φ, MΦ or MP) are a type of white blood cell of the innate immune system that engulf and digest pathogens, such as cancer cells, microbes, cellular debris and foreign substances, which do not have proteins that ...

and are most likely involved in preventing the transmission of

pathogens In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ. The term ...

from the mother to the

fetus A fetus or foetus (; : fetuses, foetuses, rarely feti or foeti) is the unborn offspring of a viviparous animal that develops from an embryo. Following the embryonic development, embryonic stage, the fetal stage of development takes place. Pren ...

(

vertical transmission Vertical transmission of symbionts is the transfer of a microbial symbiont from the parent directly to the offspring. Many metazoan species carry symbiotic bacteria which play a mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic role. A symbiont is acq ...

). 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. 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.

Histology

Under histology sections, Hofbauer cells have appeared with discernible amount of cytoplasm.

References

Macrophages American people of Austrian descent {{developmental-biology-stub