via Medical Xpress
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have identified a molecular switch that causes immune cells called macrophages to clean up cellular debris caused by infections instead of contributing to inflammation and tissue injury.
Their findings are reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Macrophages are a type of immune cell found throughout the body. These cells can produce inflammation, which is good in moderation because inflammatory signals bring other immune cells to a specific location to clear an infection. However, when inflammation gets out of control, as it can in cases of inflammatory diseases, it can cause excess cellular and tissue damage, contributing to a vicious cycle that is very difficult to reverse. But macrophages also play a significant role in reducing inflammation when they engulf cellular debris or foreign microbes that contribute to inflammation. The mechanism behind macrophages’ ability to switch back and forth between these two diametrically opposed roles has long-puzzled scientists.
Researchers led by Saroj Nepal, research assistant professor in the department of pharmacology at the UIC College of Medicine, have found that a molecule called Gas6 is required to induce macrophages to perform their anti-inflammatory role by engulfing and digesting cellular debris that can contribute to inflammation. The molecule could serve as a potential drug target for drug makers interested in coaxing the cells toward their anti-inflammatory state to help treat people.
In a mouse model of acute lung injury, Nepal and colleagues found that lung macrophages expressed both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory proteins. One of the anti-inflammatory proteins was Gas6. In a mouse model of acute lung injury where the animals’ macrophages were artificially depleted of Gas6, clearance of inflammatory molecules and proteins in the lungs was severely impaired, and the inflammation could not be resolved. When they artificially boosted levels of Gas6 in the mouse macrophages, inflammation was resolved much faster than in mice with normal macrophages.
“Harnessing the anti-inflammatory function of macrophages using the Gas6 switch holds great potential for treating diseases ranging from heart disease to cancer to rheumatoid arthritis, where inflammation is a key underlying feature,” Nepal said.
Learn more: Boosting the anti-inflammatory action of the immune system
The Latest on: Macrophages
via Google News
The Latest on: Macrophages
- Enlivex Receives Notice of Allowance for Chinese Patent Application Covering Allocetra Immunotherapyon February 24, 2021 at 7:31 pm
Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd., (Nasdaq: ENLV, the “Company”), a clinical-stage macrophage reprogramming immunotherapy company targeting diseased macrophages in patients with sepsis, COVID-19 and solid ...
- Targeting tumor-associated macrophages to synergize tumor immunotherapyon February 22, 2021 at 8:57 pm
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are a major component of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and are often correlated with poor prognosis and therapy resistance, including immunotherapies. Thus, a ...
- What Can Zebrafish Tell Us About Cancer–Immune System Interactions?on February 22, 2021 at 1:14 am
Cancer researcher Rita Fior uses zebrafish to study human cancer. The basic principle of this approach relies on transplanting human cancer cells into zebrafish larvae. The fish then serve as ...
- Enlivex Announces Issuance of New U.S. Patent Covering Methods of Treating Gout, Inflammatory ...on February 16, 2021 at 10:45 pm
Enlivex Therapeutics Ltd., (Nasdaq: ENLV, the “Company”), a clinical-stage macrophage reprogramming immunotherapy company targeting diseased macrophages in patients with sepsis, COVID-19 and solid ...
- Study describes mechanism that limits immunosupressive activity of tumor-associated macrophageson February 13, 2021 at 5:21 pm
Tumor cells are able to avoid the attack of the immune system through several mechanisms. For instance, these can secrete factors that turn macrophages -cells in the immune system- into dual action ...
- Macrophages Offer a Paradigm Switch for CNS Delivery of Therapeutic Proteinson February 6, 2021 at 4:00 pm
Aims Active targeted transport of the nanoformulated redox enzyme, catalase, in macrophages attenuates oxidative stress and as such increases survival of dopaminergic neurons in animal models of ...
- Cadherin-11–mediated adhesion of macrophages to myofibroblasts establishes a profibrotic niche of active TGF-βon February 5, 2021 at 4:00 pm
Inflammatory macrophages produce transforming growth factor–β (TGF-β), a cytokine that induces the fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition. Lodyga et al. found that the adhesion protein cadherin-11 ...
- Understanding our immune systems: Yale lab observes how macrophages respond to conflicting signalson February 2, 2021 at 9:41 pm
In order to better understand macrophages — one of the first responders in our immune system — Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Kathryn Miller-Jensen and her lab decided to observe the ...
- Relaxin gene delivery modulates macrophages to resolve cancer fibrosis and synergizes with immune checkpoint blockade therapyon February 2, 2021 at 4:00 pm
Considering the localization of relaxin family peptide receptor type 1 (RXFP1), the receptor for RLN, on macrophages, we hypothesize that macrophages can be modulated by RLN to ameliorate cancer ...
- Atherosclerosis—Multiple Pathways to Lesional Macrophageson February 2, 2021 at 4:00 pm
Blood monocytes that are recruited to the inflamed vascular wall develop into inflammatory macrophages and foam cells, which contribute to pathogenesis at many stages of this disease and, therefore, ...
via Bing News
