Molecular Mechanisms That Influence the Macrophage M1–M2 Polarization Balance

By Nan Wang, Hongwei Liang, Ke Zen. Frontiers in Immunology, 2014

1,628 citations recorded by the source corpus.

As an essential component of innate immunity, macrophages have multiple functions in both inhibiting or promoting cell proliferation and tissue repair. Diversity and plasticity are hallmarks of macrophages. Classical M1 and alternative M2 activation of macrophages, mirroring the Th1–Th2 polarization of T cells, represent two extremes of a dynamic changing state of macrophage activation. M1-type macrophages release cytokines that inhibit the proliferation of surrounding cells and damage contiguous tissue, and M2-type macrophages release cytokines that promote the proliferation of contiguous cells and tissue repair. M1–M2 polarization of macrophage is a tightly controlled process entailing a set of signaling pathways, transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulatory networks. An imbalance of macrophage M1–M2 polarization is often associated with various diseases or inflammatory conditions. Therefore, identification of the molecules associated with the dynamic changes of macrophage polarization and understanding their interactions is crucial for elucidating the molecular basis of disease progression and designing novel macrophage-mediated therapeutic strategies.

Subfields: Immunology, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/837fa813c25f0e895a78cab810ec14ecd270b2f3

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In Immunology

1. Ting Liu
2. Liang Liu
3. Ava J Boutilier
4. Lingyun Zhang
5. Qing-Wu Yang
6. Sherine F. Elsawa
7. Xiao-Yi Xiong
8. Donghyun Joo

In Molecular Biology

1. Ting Liu
2. Ava J Boutilier
3. Lingyun Zhang
4. Sherine F. Elsawa
5. Donghyun Joo
6. Shao-Cong Sun
7. N. Perkins

Citations in the corpus

• Macrophage Polarization States in the Tumor Microenvironment (2021, background): “IL-4 and LPS signaling can also target the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and Akt to trigger polarization.”
• Dietary Fiber Confers Protection against Flu by Shaping Ly6c− Patrolling Monocyte Hematopoiesis and CD8+ T Cell Metabolism (2018, background): “This finding was further supported by an increased mRNA expression of Il-4 and Il-10 in the lung of HFD-fed mice (Figure 4F), two cytokines known to promote alternative activation of macrophages (Wang et al., 2014), while the inflammatory macrophage-driving cytokine interferon (Ifn)-g was unaltered ”
• Macrophage plasticity, polarization, and function in health and disease (2018, background): “Beside IL-4 and IL-13 other cytokines such as IL-10 can govern M2 polarization via activating STAT3 through IL-10 receptor (IL-10R) (Porta, Riboldi, Ippolito, & Sica, 2015; Wang et al., 2014).”
• Functions and mechanisms of microglia/macrophages in neuroinflammation and neurogenesis after stroke. (2016, background): “M1 polarization of microglia/macrophages results in the release of destructive pro-inflammatory mediators that inhibit CNS restoration, while M2 polarization results in the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines to promote the regeneration and repair of tissue (Wang et al., 2014a).”
• NF-κB signaling in inflammation (2017, positive): “29,30 M1 macrophages are characterized by the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-α and chemokines, involved in various inflammatory processes.”