The Chediak Higashi syndrome and the homologous trait in animals

Abstract

The Chediak Higashi syndrome seems to represent a defect in subcellular structure which in turn is reflected in functional abnormalities of seemingly diverse cell lines. This correlation is, of course, not surprising in view of the many metabolic features shared by all mammalian cells. However, the single membrane bound cytoplasmic organelles can legitimately be regarded as distinctive for the cell in which they occur, that is, they express specifically the full differentiative capacity of any given cell, be it neutrophil or melanocyte. In this sense, such structures could be expected to express the unique characteristics of the differentiation of a given cell. The Chediak Higashi syndrome indicates that not all the characteristics of such granules are unique, but at least one feature under genetic control is common to most if not all such organelles.