# Hofbauer cell

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hofbauer_cell
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hofbauer_cell.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofbauer_cell
> Source revision: 1251433833
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Hofbauer cells** are oval [eosinophilic](/source/Eosinophilic) [histiocytes](/source/Histiocyte)[1] with granules and [vacuoles](/source/Vacuole) found in the [placenta](/source/Placenta), which are of [mesenchymal](/source/Mesenchyme) origin, in [mesoderm](/source/Mesoderm) of the [chorionic villi](/source/Chorionic_villi), particularly numerous in early [pregnancy](/source/Pregnancy).

## Etymology

They are named after J. Isfred Isidore Hofbauer (1871[2]-1961),[1] a German-American gynecologist who described the cell type in his book *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](/source/Macrophage)[3][4] and are most likely involved in preventing the transmission of [pathogens](/source/Pathogens) from the mother to the [fetus](/source/Fetus) ([vertical transmission](/source/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.[5] According to a systems level single-cell transcriptomics based study of human placental cell-cell communication, Hofbauer cells produce [HBE-GF](/source/Heparin-binding_EGF-like_growth_factor), an EGFR ligand, which drives differentiation of villous cytotrophoblasts towards syncytiotrophoblasts.[6]

## Histology

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

## References

1. Venes, Donald (2006). [*Taber's cyclopedic medical dictionary*](https://archive.org/details/taberscyclopedic19vene). Ed. 20, illustrated in full color. ed. Philadelphia [Pa.]: Davis Co. ISBN 0-8036-1208-7.

1. ["Dr. Isfred Hofbauer, a Gynecologist, 89"](https://www.nytimes.com/1961/03/15/archives/dr-isfred-hofbauer-a-gynecologist-89.html). *The New York Times*. 1961-03-15. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2020-10-05.

1. Wood, GW. (1980). "Mononuclear phagocytes in the human placenta.". *Placenta*. **1** (2): 113–23. [doi:10.1016/s0143-4004(80)80019-1](https://doi.org/10.1016/s0143-4004(80)80019-1). [PMID 7003580](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7003580)

1. Zaccheo, D.; Pistoia, V.; Castellucci, M.; Martinoli, C. (1989). "Isolation and characterization of Hofbauer cells from human placental villi.". *Arch Gynecol Obstet*. **246** (4): 189–200. [doi:10.1007/bf00934518](https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00934518). [PMID 2482706](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2482706). [S2CID 30920736](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:30920736)

1. Seval, Y.; Korgun, ET.; Demir, R. (2007). "Hofbauer cells in early human placenta: possible implications in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis.". *Placenta*. **28** (8–9): 841–5. [doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2007.01.010](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2007.01.010). [PMID 17350092](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17350092)

1. Vento-Tormo, Roser; Efremova, Mirjana; Botting, Rachel A.; Turco, Margherita Y.; Vento-Tormo, Miquel; Meyer, Kerstin B.; Park, Jong-Eun; Stephenson, Emily; Polański, Krzysztof; Goncalves, Angela; Gardner, Lucy; Holmqvist, Staffan; Henriksson, Johan; Zou, Angela; Sharkey, Andrew M.; Millar, Ben; Innes, Barbara; Wood, Laura; Wilbrey-Clark, Anna; Payne, Rebecca P.; Ivarsson, Martin A.; Lisgo, Steve; Filby, Andrew; Rowitch, David H.; Bulmer, Judith N.; Wright, Gavin J.; Stubbington, Michael J. T.; Haniffa, Muzlifah; Moffett, Ashley; Teichmann, Sarah A. (2018). ["Single-cell reconstruction of the early maternal–fetal interface in humans"](https://eprint.ncl.ac.uk/fulltext.aspx?url=253209/5307C9D4-195F-4436-8401-914EEFAD7198.pdf&pub_id=253209). *Nature*. **563** (7731): 347–353. [Bibcode:2018Natur.563..347V](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018Natur.563..347V). [doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0698-6](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0698-6). [ISSN 0028-0836](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0028-0836). [PMC 7612850](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7612850). [PMID 30429548](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30429548)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hofbauer cell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofbauer_cell) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofbauer_cell?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.