Macrophages upregulate mural cell-like markers and support healing of ischemic injury by adopting functions important for vascular support.

ABSTRACT: Sterile inflammation after injury is important for tissue restoration. In injured human and mouse tissues, macrophages were recently found to accumulate perivascularly. This study investigates if macrophages adopt a mural cell phenotype important for restoration after ischemic injury. Single-cell RNA sequencing of fate-mapped macrophages from ischemic mouse muscles demonstrates a macrophage-toward-mural cell switch of a subpopulation of macrophages with downregulated myeloid cell genes and upregulated mural cell genes, including PDGFRβ. This observation was further strengthened when including unspliced transcripts in the analysis. The macrophage switch was proven functionally relevant, as induction of macrophage-specific PDGFRβ deficiency prevented their perivascular macrophage phenotype,

SUBMITTER: Amoedo-Leite C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11358018 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature