No need to “sugar coat”: Removing glycocalyx on apoptotic blebs promotes phagocytosis

The viscous glycocalyx of mammalian cells, composed of glucosaminoglycans, glycolipids, and glycoproteins, “sugar coat” the outer plasma membrane. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Le et al. (2024) show that the glycocalyx is removed from apoptotic blebs via disassembly of the cortical cytoskeleton, exposing the “eat-me” signals necessary for efferocytosis.