Macrophage Polarization-Introduction

Macrophage Polarization-Introduction

Macrophages (MΦ) are phagocytic cells of the innate immune system that are present in virtually all tissues. Macrophages differentiate from circulating peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), which migrate from the bloodstream into tissue in the steady state or in response to trauma or infection [1]. Mononuclear cells develop from myeloid progenitor cells in the bone marrow that serve as th...

Macrophage Polarization Mini Review

In the 1990s it was discovered that the cytokine interleukin (IL)-4 induced different effects on macrophage gene expression compared to that of interferon (IFN)-gamma and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In contrast to the classical activation of macrophages by IFN-gamma (Nathan CF et al. 1983), the macrophage gene expression induced by IL-4 was described as “alternative activation” (Stein M et al. 19...

Macrophage Differentiation and Polarization

Orchestration of macrophage polarization.

In this issue of Blood, Ishii and colleagues shed new, fresh light on molecular mechanisms underlying one form of macrophage activation.

Macrophage polarization in kidney diseases.

Macrophage accumulation associates closely with the degree of renal structural injury and renal dysfunction in human kidney diseases. Depletion of macrophages reduces while adoptive transfer of macrophages worsens inflammation in animal models of the renal injury. However, emerging evidence support that macrophage polarization plays a critical role in the progression of a number of kidney disea...