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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a mild to moderate respiratory tract infection, however, a subset of patients progress to severe disease and respiratory failure. The mechanism of protective immunity in mild forms and the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19 associated with increased neutrophil counts and dysregulated immune responses remain unclear. In a dual-center, two-cohort study, we combined single-cell RNA-sequencing and single-cell proteomics of whole-blood and peripheral-blood mononuclear cells to determine changes in immune cell composition and activation in mild versus severe COVID-19 (242 samples from 109 individuals) over time. HLA-DRhiCD11chi inflammatory monocytes with an interferon-stimulated gene signature were elevated in mild COVID-19. Severe COVID-19 was marked by occurrence of neutrophil precursors, as evidence of emergency myelopoiesis, dysfunctional mature neutrophils, and HLA-DRlo monocytes. Our study provides detailed insights into the systemic immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and reveals profound alterations in the myeloid cell compartment associated with severe COVID-19.
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Infecciones por Coronavirus/inmunología , Células Mieloides/inmunología , Mielopoyesis , Neumonía Viral/inmunología , Adulto , Anciano , Antígenos CD11/genética , Antígenos CD11/metabolismo , COVID-19 , Células Cultivadas , Infecciones por Coronavirus/sangre , Infecciones por Coronavirus/patología , Femenino , Antígenos HLA-DR/genética , Antígenos HLA-DR/metabolismo , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Células Mieloides/citología , Pandemias , Neumonía Viral/sangre , Neumonía Viral/patología , Proteoma/genética , Proteoma/metabolismo , Proteómica , Análisis de la Célula IndividualRESUMEN
COPD is a devastating respiratory condition that manifests via persistent inflammation, emphysema development and small airway remodelling. Lung regeneration is defined as the ability of the lung to repair itself after injury by the proliferation and differentiation of progenitor cell populations, and becomes impaired in the COPD lung as a consequence of cell intrinsic epithelial stem cell defects and signals from the micro-environment. Although the loss of structural integrity and lung regenerative capacity are critical for disease progression, our understanding of the cellular players and molecular pathways that hamper regeneration in COPD remains limited. Intriguingly, despite being a key driver of COPD pathogenesis, the role of the immune system in regulating lung regenerative mechanisms is understudied. In this review, we summarise recent evidence on the contribution of immune cells to lung injury and regeneration. We focus on four main axes: 1) the mechanisms via which myeloid cells cause alveolar degradation; 2) the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures and the production of autoreactive antibodies; 3) the consequences of inefficient apoptotic cell removal; and 4) the effects of innate and adaptive immune cell signalling on alveolar epithelial proliferation and differentiation. We finally provide insight on how recent technological advances in omics technologies and human ex vivo lung models can delineate immune cell-epithelium cross-talk and expedite precision pro-regenerative approaches toward reprogramming the alveolar immune niche to treat COPD.
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Cannabinoid receptor (CB)2 is an immune cell-localized GPCR that has been hypothesized to regulate the magnitude of inflammatory responses. However, there is currently no consensus as to the mechanism by which CB2 mediates its anti-inflammatory effects in vivo. To address this question, we employed a murine dorsal air pouch model with wild-type and CB2-/- 8-12-wk-old female and male C57BL/6 mice and found that acute neutrophil and lymphocyte antigen 6 complex, locus Chi monocyte recruitment in response to Zymosan was significantly enhanced in CB2-/- mice. Additionally, levels of matrix metalloproteinase 9 and the chemokines C-C motif chemokine ligand (CCL)2, CCL4, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 in CB2-/- pouch exudates were elevated at earlier time points. Importantly, using mixed bone marrow chimeras, we revealed that the proinflammatory phenotype in CB2-/- mice is neutrophil-intrinsic rather than stromal cell-dependent. Indeed, neutrophils isolated from CB2-/- mice exhibited an enhanced migration-related transcriptional profile and increased adhesive phenotype, and treatment of human neutrophils with a CB2 agonist blocked their endothelial transmigration. Overall, we have demonstrated that CB2 plays a nonredundant role during acute neutrophil mobilization to sites of inflammation and, as such, it could represent a therapeutic target for the development of novel anti-inflammatory compounds to treat inflammatory human diseases.-Kapellos, T. S., Taylor, L., Feuerborn, A., Valaris, S., Hussain, M. T., Rainger, G. E., Greaves, D. R., Iqbal, A. J. Cannabinoid receptor 2 deficiency exacerbates inflammation and neutrophil recruitment.
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Movimiento Celular , Neutrófilos/inmunología , Receptor Cannabinoide CB2/deficiencia , Transcriptoma , Animales , Adhesión Celular , Células Cultivadas , Quimiocina CCL2/genética , Quimiocina CCL2/metabolismo , Quimiocina CCL4/genética , Quimiocina CCL4/metabolismo , Quimiocina CXCL10/genética , Quimiocina CXCL10/metabolismo , Femenino , Humanos , Inmunidad Innata , Masculino , Metaloproteinasa 9 de la Matriz/genética , Metaloproteinasa 9 de la Matriz/metabolismo , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Neutrófilos/fisiología , Receptor Cannabinoide CB2/genéticaRESUMEN
The endocannabinoid system consists of endogenous lipid mediators and cannabinoid receptors (CB) 1 and 2. It has previously been demonstrated that activation of the leukocyte-expressed CB2 has anti-inflammatory effects in vivo. Here, we report its role under baseline conditions and in a model of low-dose endotoxemia by comparing CB2 knockout to littermate control mice. CB2-deficient mice displayed significantly more neutrophils and fewer monocytes in the bone marrow under steady state. In initial validation experiments, administration of 1 mg/kg LPS to male C57BL/6J mice was shown to transiently upregulate systemic proinflammatory mediators (peaked at 2 hours) and mobilise bone marrow neutrophils and monocytes into circulation. In CB2 knockout mice, the level of the metalloproteinase MMP-9 was significantly elevated by 2 hours and we also observed augmented recruitment of neutrophils to the spleen in addition to increased levels of Ccl2, Ccl3, Cxcl10, and Il6. Collectively, our data show that the absence of CB2 receptor increases the levels of innate immune cell populations in the bone marrow under steady state. Furthermore, during an acute systemic inflammatory insult, we observe a highly reproducible and site-specific increase in neutrophil recruitment and proinflammatory chemokine expression in the spleen of CB2 knockout mice.
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Endotoxemia/metabolismo , Infiltración Neutrófila/fisiología , Neutrófilos/metabolismo , Receptor Cannabinoide CB2/metabolismo , Animales , Quimiocinas/metabolismo , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Endotoxemia/genética , Citometría de Flujo , Lipopolisacáridos/farmacología , Pulmón/metabolismo , Masculino , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Infiltración Neutrófila/genética , Cavidad Peritoneal , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa , Receptor Cannabinoide CB2/genéticaRESUMEN
The recruitment of monocytes and their differentiation into macrophages at sites of inflammation are key events in determining the outcome of the inflammatory response and initiating the return to tissue homeostasis. To study monocyte trafficking and macrophage differentiation in vivo, we have generated a novel transgenic reporter mouse expressing a green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the human CD68 promoter. CD68-GFP mice express high levels of GFP in both monocyte and embryo-derived tissue resident macrophages in adult animals. The human CD68 promoter drives GFP expression in all CD115(+) monocytes of adult blood, spleen, and bone marrow; we took advantage of this to directly compare the trafficking of bone marrow-derived CD68-GFP monocytes to that of CX3CR1(GFP) monocytes in vivo using a sterile zymosan peritonitis model. Unlike CX3CR1(GFP) monocytes, which downregulate GFP expression on differentiation into macrophages in this model, CD68-GFP monocytes retain high-level GFP expression for 72 hours after differentiation into macrophages, allowing continued cell tracking during resolution of inflammation. In summary, this novel CD68-GFP transgenic reporter mouse line represents a powerful resource for analyzing monocyte mobilization and monocyte trafficking as well as studying the fate of recruited monocytes in models of acute and chronic inflammation.
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Antígenos CD/genética , Antígenos de Diferenciación Mielomonocítica/genética , Diferenciación Celular , Proteínas Fluorescentes Verdes/metabolismo , Macrófagos Peritoneales/citología , Monocitos/citología , Regiones Promotoras Genéticas/genética , Traslado Adoptivo , Animales , Médula Ósea/metabolismo , Receptor 1 de Quimiocinas CX3C , Enfermedad Crónica , Desarrollo Embrionario , Citometría de Flujo , Técnica del Anticuerpo Fluorescente , Genes Reporteros , Humanos , Inflamación/patología , Leucocitos/metabolismo , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Ratones Transgénicos , Infecciones por Mycobacterium/patología , Mycobacterium bovis/fisiología , Fenotipo , Receptores de Quimiocina/metabolismo , Bazo/metabolismoRESUMEN
Macrophages function as sentinel cells, which constantly monitor the host environment for infection or injury. Macrophages have been shown to exhibit a spectrum of activated phenotypes, which can often be categorised under the M1/M2 paradigm. M1 macrophages secrete proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, such as TNF-α, IL-6, IL-12, CCL4, and CXCL10, and induce phagocytosis and oxidative dependent killing mechanisms. In contrast, M2 macrophages support wound healing and resolution of inflammation. In the past decade, interest has grown in understanding the mechanisms involved in regulating macrophage activation. In particular, epigenetic control of M1 or M2 activation states has been shown to rely on posttranslational modifications of histone proteins adjacent to inflammatory-related genes. Changes in methylation and acetylation of histones by methyltransferases, demethylases, acetyltransferases, and deacetylases can all impact how macrophage phenotypes are generated. In this review, we summarise the latest advances in the field of epigenetic regulation of macrophage polarisation to M1 or M2 states, with particular focus on the cytokine and chemokine profiles associated with these phenotypes.
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Epigénesis Genética/genética , Macrófagos/metabolismo , Animales , Quimiocina CCL4/metabolismo , Quimiocina CXCL10/metabolismo , Humanos , Inflamación/inmunología , Inflamación/metabolismo , Interleucina-12/metabolismo , Interleucina-6/metabolismo , Activación de Macrófagos/fisiología , Factor de Necrosis Tumoral alfa/metabolismoRESUMEN
Autoimmunity plays a role in certain types of lung fibrosis, notably connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD). In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), an incurable and fatal lung disease, diagnosis typically requires clinical exclusion of autoimmunity. However, autoantibodies of unknown significance have been detected in IPF patients. We conducted computational analysis of B cell transcriptomes in published transcriptomics datasets and developed a proteomic Differential Antigen Capture (DAC) assay that captures plasma antibodies followed by affinity purification of lung proteins coupled to mass spectrometry. We analyzed antibody capture in two independent cohorts of IPF and CTL-ILD patients over two disease progression time points. Our findings revealed significant upregulation of specific immunoglobulins with V-segment bias in IPF across multiple cohorts. We identified a predictive autoimmune signature linked to reduced transplant-free survival in IPF, persisting over time. Notably, autoantibodies against thrombospondin-1 were associated with decreased survival, suggesting their potential as predictive biomarkers.
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Single-cell technologies have transformed our understanding of human tissues. Yet, studies typically capture only a limited number of donors and disagree on cell type definitions. Integrating many single-cell datasets can address these limitations of individual studies and capture the variability present in the population. Here we present the integrated Human Lung Cell Atlas (HLCA), combining 49 datasets of the human respiratory system into a single atlas spanning over 2.4 million cells from 486 individuals. The HLCA presents a consensus cell type re-annotation with matching marker genes, including annotations of rare and previously undescribed cell types. Leveraging the number and diversity of individuals in the HLCA, we identify gene modules that are associated with demographic covariates such as age, sex and body mass index, as well as gene modules changing expression along the proximal-to-distal axis of the bronchial tree. Mapping new data to the HLCA enables rapid data annotation and interpretation. Using the HLCA as a reference for the study of disease, we identify shared cell states across multiple lung diseases, including SPP1+ profibrotic monocyte-derived macrophages in COVID-19, pulmonary fibrosis and lung carcinoma. Overall, the HLCA serves as an example for the development and use of large-scale, cross-dataset organ atlases within the Human Cell Atlas.
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COVID-19 , Neoplasias Pulmonares , Fibrosis Pulmonar , Humanos , Pulmón , Neoplasias Pulmonares/genética , MacrófagosRESUMEN
Systemic inflammation is established as part of late-stage severe lung disease, but molecular, functional, and phenotypic changes in peripheral immune cells in early disease stages remain ill defined. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major respiratory disease characterized by small-airway inflammation, emphysema, and severe breathing difficulties. Using single-cell analyses we demonstrate that blood neutrophils are already increased in early-stage COPD, and changes in molecular and functional neutrophil states correlate with lung function decline. Assessing neutrophils and their bone marrow precursors in a murine cigarette smoke exposure model identified similar molecular changes in blood neutrophils and precursor populations that also occur in the blood and lung. Our study shows that systemic molecular alterations in neutrophils and their precursors are part of early-stage COPD, a finding to be further explored for potential therapeutic targets and biomarkers for early diagnosis and patient stratification.
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Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica , Enfisema Pulmonar , Humanos , Animales , Ratones , Neutrófilos , Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica/tratamiento farmacológico , Pulmón , InflamaciónRESUMEN
This article presents the highlights of the ERS Lung Science Conference 2022, including a session organised by the Early Career Member Committee (ECMC) dedicated to career development https://bit.ly/3tarCXc.
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Despite its high prevalence, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are far from being understood. Here, we determine disease-related changes in cellular and molecular compositions within the alveolar space and peripheral blood of a cohort of COPD patients and controls. Myeloid cells were the largest cellular compartment in the alveolar space with invading monocytes and proliferating macrophages elevated in COPD. Modeling cell-to-cell communication, signaling pathway usage, and transcription factor binding predicts TGF-ß1 to be a major upstream regulator of transcriptional changes in alveolar macrophages of COPD patients. Functionally, macrophages in COPD showed reduced antigen presentation capacity, accumulation of cholesteryl ester, reduced cellular chemotaxis, and mitochondrial dysfunction, reminiscent of impaired immune activation.
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Macrófagos Alveolares , Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica , Quimiotaxis/fisiología , Humanos , Macrófagos/metabolismo , Monocitos/metabolismoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Immune cells play a major role in the pathogenesis of COPD. Changes in the distribution and cellular functions of major immune cells, such as alveolar macrophages (AMs) and neutrophils are well known; however, their transcriptional reprogramming and contribution to the pathophysiology of COPD are still not fully understood. METHOD: To determine changes in transcriptional reprogramming and lipid metabolism in the major immune cell type within bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, we analysed whole transcriptomes and lipidomes of sorted CD45+Lin-HLA-DR+CD66b-Autofluorescencehi AMs from controls and COPD patients. RESULTS: We observed global transcriptional reprogramming featuring a spectrum of activation states, including pro- and anti-inflammatory signatures. We further detected significant changes between COPD patients and controls in genes involved in lipid metabolism, such as fatty acid biosynthesis in GOLD2 patients. Based on these findings, assessment of a total of 202 lipid species in sorted AMs revealed changes of cholesteryl esters, monoacylglycerols and phospholipids in a disease grade-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: Transcriptome and lipidome profiling of COPD AMs revealed GOLD grade-dependent changes, such as in cholesterol metabolism and interferon-α and γ responses.
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BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is currently leading to increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients all over the world. Clinical presentations range from asymptomatic, mild respiratory tract infection, to severe cases with acute respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, and death. Reports on a dysregulated immune system in the severe cases call for a better characterization and understanding of the changes in the immune system. METHODS: In order to dissect COVID-19-driven immune host responses, we performed RNA-seq of whole blood cell transcriptomes and granulocyte preparations from mild and severe COVID-19 patients and analyzed the data using a combination of conventional and data-driven co-expression analysis. Additionally, publicly available data was used to show the distinction from COVID-19 to other diseases. Reverse drug target prediction was used to identify known or novel drug candidates based on finding from data-driven findings. RESULTS: Here, we profiled whole blood transcriptomes of 39 COVID-19 patients and 10 control donors enabling a data-driven stratification based on molecular phenotype. Neutrophil activation-associated signatures were prominently enriched in severe patient groups, which was corroborated in whole blood transcriptomes from an independent second cohort of 30 as well as in granulocyte samples from a third cohort of 16 COVID-19 patients (44 samples). Comparison of COVID-19 blood transcriptomes with those of a collection of over 3100 samples derived from 12 different viral infections, inflammatory diseases, and independent control samples revealed highly specific transcriptome signatures for COVID-19. Further, stratified transcriptomes predicted patient subgroup-specific drug candidates targeting the dysregulated systemic immune response of the host. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides novel insights in the distinct molecular subgroups or phenotypes that are not simply explained by clinical parameters. We show that whole blood transcriptomes are extremely informative for COVID-19 since they capture granulocytes which are major drivers of disease severity.
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COVID-19/patología , Neutrófilos/metabolismo , Transcriptoma , Antivirales/uso terapéutico , COVID-19/virología , Estudios de Casos y Controles , Regulación hacia Abajo , Reposicionamiento de Medicamentos , Humanos , Neutrófilos/citología , Neutrófilos/inmunología , Fenotipo , Análisis de Componente Principal , ARN/sangre , ARN/química , ARN/metabolismo , Análisis de Secuencia de ARN , Índice de Severidad de la Enfermedad , Regulación hacia Arriba , Tratamiento Farmacológico de COVID-19RESUMEN
Human monocytes are divided in three major populations; classical (CD14+CD16-), non-classical (CD14dimCD16+), and intermediate (CD14+CD16+). Each of these subsets is distinguished from each other by the expression of distinct surface markers and by their functions in homeostasis and disease. In this review, we discuss the most up-to-date phenotypic classification of human monocytes that has been greatly aided by the application of novel single-cell transcriptomic and mass cytometry technologies. Furthermore, we shed light on the role of these plastic immune cells in already recognized and emerging human chronic diseases, such as obesity, atherosclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung fibrosis, lung cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. Our aim is to provide an insight into the contribution of human monocytes to the progression of these diseases and highlight their candidacy as potential therapeutic cell targets.
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Inflamación/inmunología , Monocitos/inmunología , Animales , Enfermedad Crónica , Citometría de Flujo/métodos , Humanos , Fenotipo , Transcriptoma/inmunologíaRESUMEN
Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are frequently the most abundant immune cells in cancers and are associated with poor survival. Here, we generated TAM molecular signatures from K14cre;Cdh1flox/flox;Trp53flox/flox (KEP) and MMTV-NeuT (NeuT) transgenic mice that resemble human invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) and HER2+ tumors, respectively. Determination of TAM-specific signatures requires comparison with healthy mammary tissue macrophages to avoid overestimation of gene expression differences. TAMs from the two models feature a distinct transcriptomic profile, suggesting that the cancer subtype dictates their phenotype. The KEP-derived signature reliably correlates with poor overall survival in ILC but not in triple-negative breast cancer patients, indicating that translation of murine TAM signatures to patients is cancer subtype dependent. Collectively, we show that a transgenic mouse tumor model can yield a TAM signature relevant for human breast cancer outcome prognosis and provide a generalizable strategy for determining and applying immune cell signatures provided the murine model reflects the human disease.
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Neoplasias de la Mama/genética , Neoplasias de la Mama/patología , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Macrófagos/metabolismo , Neoplasias Mamarias Animales/patología , Transcripción Genética , Animales , Carcinogénesis/genética , Carcinogénesis/patología , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Femenino , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Humanos , Neoplasias Mamarias Animales/genética , Ratones Endogámicos BALB C , Ratones Transgénicos , Fenotipo , Pronóstico , ARN Mensajero/genética , ARN Mensajero/metabolismo , Análisis de Supervivencia , Transcriptoma/genética , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a diverse respiratory disease characterised by bronchiolitis, small airway obstruction, and emphysema. Innate immune cells play a pivotal role in the disease's progression, and in particular, lung macrophages exploit their prevalence and strategic localisation to orchestrate immune responses. To date, alveolar and interstitial resident macrophages as well as blood monocytes have been described in the lungs of patients with COPD contributing to disease pathology by changes in their functional repertoire. In this review, we summarise recent evidence from human studies and work with animal models of COPD with regard to altered functions of each of these myeloid cell populations. We primarily focus on the dysregulated capacity of alveolar macrophages to secrete proinflammatory mediators and proteases, induce oxidative stress, engulf microbes and apoptotic cells, and express surface and intracellular markers in patients with COPD. In addition, we discuss the differences in the responses between alveolar macrophages and interstitial macrophages/monocytes in the disease and propose how the field should advance to better understand the implications of lung macrophage functions in COPD.
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Pulmón/patología , Macrófagos/inmunología , Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crónica/inmunología , Animales , Citocinas/metabolismo , Homeostasis , Humanos , Inmunomodulación , Mediadores de Inflamación/metabolismo , Estrés OxidativoRESUMEN
Chemerin is a chemotactic protein that induces migration of several immune cells including macrophages, immature dendritic cells, and NK cells. Chemerin binds to three G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), including CCRL2. The exact function of CCRL2 remains unclear. CCRL2 expression is rapidly upregulated during inflammation, but it lacks the intracellular DRYLAIV motif required for classical GPCR downstream signalling pathways, and it has not been reported to internalise chemerin upon binding. The aim of this study was to investigate what role if any CCRL2 plays during acute inflammation. Using the zymosan- and thioglycollate-induced murine models of acute inflammation, we report that mice deficient in the Ccrl2 gene display exaggerated local and systemic inflammatory responses, characterised by increased myeloid cell recruitment. This amplified myeloid cell recruitment was associated with increased chemerin and CXCL1 levels. Furthermore, we report that the inflammatory phenotype observed in these mice is dependent upon elevated levels of endogenous chemerin. Antibody neutralisation of chemerin activity in Ccrl2-/- mice abrogated the amplified inflammatory responses. Importantly, chemerin did not directly recruit myeloid cells but rather increased the production of other chemotactic proteins such as CXCL1. Administration of recombinant chemerin to wild-type mice before inflammatory challenge recapitulated the increased myeloid cell recruitment and inflammatory mediator production observed in Ccrl2-/- mice. We have demonstrated that the absence of CCRL2 results in increased levels of local and systemic chemerin levels and exacerbated inflammatory responses during acute inflammatory challenge. These results further highlight the importance of chemerin as a therapeutic target in inflammatory diseases.
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Phagocytosis of pathogens, apoptotic cells and debris is a key feature of macrophage function in host defense and tissue homeostasis. Quantification of macrophage phagocytosis in vitro has traditionally been technically challenging. Here we report the optimization and validation of the IncuCyte ZOOM® real time imaging platform for macrophage phagocytosis based on pHrodo® pathogen bioparticles, which only fluoresce when localized in the acidic environment of the phagolysosome. Image analysis and fluorescence quantification were performed with the automated IncuCyte™ Basic Software. Titration of the bioparticle number showed that the system is more sensitive than a spectrofluorometer, as it can detect phagocytosis when using 20× less E. coli bioparticles. We exemplified the power of this real time imaging platform by studying phagocytosis of murine alveolar, bone marrow and peritoneal macrophages. We further demonstrate the ability of this platform to study modulation of the phagocytic process, as pharmacological inhibitors of phagocytosis suppressed bioparticle uptake in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas opsonins augmented phagocytosis. We also investigated the effects of macrophage polarization on E. coli phagocytosis. Bone marrow-derived macrophage (BMDM) priming with M2 stimuli, such as IL-4 and IL-10 resulted in higher engulfment of bioparticles in comparison with M1 polarization. Moreover, we demonstrated that tolerization of BMDMs with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) results in impaired E. coli bioparticle phagocytosis. This novel real time assay will enable researchers to quantify macrophage phagocytosis with a higher degree of accuracy and sensitivity and will allow investigation of limited populations of primary phagocytes in vitro.