Project description:Macrophage activation is associated with profound transcriptional reprogramming. Although much progress has been made in the understanding of macrophage activation, polarization and function, the transcriptional programs regulating these processes remain poorly characterized. We stimulated human macrophages with diverse activation signals, acquiring a dataset of 299 macrophage transcriptomes. Analysis of this dataset revealed a spectrum of macrophage activation states extending the current M1 versus M2-polarization model. Network analyses identified central transcriptional regulators associated with all macrophage activation complemented by regulators related to stimulus-specific programs. Applying these transcriptional programs to human alveolar macrophages from smokers and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) revealed an unexpected loss of inflammatory signatures in COPD patients. Finally, by integrating murine data from the ImmGen project we propose a refined, activation-independent core signature for human and murine macrophages. This resource serves as a framework for future research into regulation of macrophage activation in health and disease. Illumina: To better understand the transcriptional program of human macrophages a set of different stimuli were used to activate and differentiate human macrophages in vitro. These macrophages were then assessed by transcriptomics and analyzed by different approaches using gene co-regulation analysis, SOM-clustering, hierarchical clustering, reverse network engineering and statistical models such as ANOVA. Affymetrix: To understand the relationship of in vivo macrophages with in vitro stimulations, two alveaolar macrophage datasets GSE13896 (COPD patients, smokers and non-smokers) and GSE2125 (asthmatic patients, smokers and non-smokers) were downloaded and processed together. In total, the combined dataset consists of 12 COPD samples, 15 asthmatic, 49 smoker samples and 39 non-smokers as control. Clustering of the samples (such as correlation network, principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering) and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis was performed on differentially expressed genes from 28 in vitro conditions.

Project description:Background: When exposed to specific stimuli, macrophages exhibit distinct activation programs, M1 and M2 polarization, that define macrophage function as inflammatory/immune effectors or anti-inflammatory/tissue remodeling cells, respectively. Due to their position on the lung epithelial surface, alveolar macrophages (AM) directly interact with environmental stimuli such as cigarette smoke, the major risk factor for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Based on the current paradigm that, in response to smoking, AM contribute to both inflammatory and tissue remodeling processes in the lung relevant to the pathogenesis of COPD, we hypothesized that chronic exposure to cigarette smoking activates both the M1 and M2 polarization programs in AM. Methods and Findings: To assess this hypothesis, global transcriptional profiling with TaqMan confirmation and flow cytometry analysis was carried out on AM obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage of 24 healthy nonsmokers, 34 healthy smokers and 12 smokers with COPD to assess the expression of 41 M1 genes and 32 M2 genes in each group. Contrary to our expectations, while there was up-regulation of some genes typical for M2-related phenotypes, AM of healthy smokers exhibited substantial suppression of M1-related inflammatory/immune genes. These M1- and M2-related changes progressed with the development of smoking-induced lung disease, with AM of smokers with COPD exhibiting further down-regulation of M1-related genes accompanied with further up-regulation of some M2-related genes. Conclusion: The data demonstrates that the modifications of the AM transcriptome associated with smoking result in a unique phenotype characterized by reprogramming of AM towards M1-deactivated partially M2-polarized macrophages and suggests that, while AM likely contribute to smoking-induced tissue remodeling, the role of AM in the early pathogenesis of smoking-induced COPD in humans is not inflammatory. This concept is a departure from the conventional concept that AM-mediated inflammation participates in the early derangements of the lung induced by smoking, and suggests a novel paradigm for conceptualizing COPD and developing new approaches to prevent the development of smoking-induced lung disease. Comparison of gene expression in alveolar macrophages of normal non-smokers and normal smokers and smokers with COPD

Project description:Background: Macrophage polarization programs, commonly referred to as âclassicalâ and âalternativeâ activation, are widely considered as distinct states that are exclusive of one another, and are associated with different functions such as inflammation and wound healing, respectively. In a number of disease contexts, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), macrophage polarization influences the extent of pathogenesis, and efforts are underway to eliminate pathogenic subsets. However, previous studies have not distinguished whether the simultaneous presence of both classical and alternative activation signatures represents the admixture of differentially polarized macrophages, or if they have adopted a unique state characterized by components of both classical and alternative activation. Results: We analyzed the polarization of individual macrophages responding to TBI using single-cell RNA sequencing. Analysis of signature polarization genes revealed diverse activation states, including M(IL4), M(IL10), and M(LPS, IFNÎ³). However, the expression of a given polarization marker was no more likely than at random to predict simultaneous expression or repression of markers of another polarization program within the same cell, suggesting a lack of exclusivity in macrophage polarization states in vivo in TBI. Also unexpectedly, individual TBI macrophages simultaneously expressed high levels of signature polarization genes across two or three different polarization states, and in several distinct and seemingly incompatible combinations. Conclusions: Single-cell gene expression profiling demonstrated that monocytic macrophages in TBI are not comprised of distinctly polarized subsets, but are uniquely and broadly activated. TBI macrophage activation in vivo is deeply complex, with individual cells concurrently adopting both inflammatory and reparative features. These data provide physiologically relevant evidence that the early macrophage response to TBI is comprised of novel activation states that are discordant with the current paradigm of macrophage polarizationâa key consideration for therapeutic modulation. Monocyte derived macrophages were isolated from the ipsilateral hemisphere of mouse brains one day following traumatic brain injury elicited by control cortical impact in C57BL/6 adult male mice. Single-cells were isolated and processed for RNA sequencing using a Fluidigm C1 integrated fluidic circuit chip. 45 biological replicates were analyzed.

Project description:Background: When exposed to specific stimuli, macrophages exhibit distinct activation programs, M1 and M2 polarization, that define macrophage function as inflammatory/immune effectors or anti-inflammatory/tissue remodeling cells, respectively. Due to their position on the lung epithelial surface, alveolar macrophages (AM) directly interact with environmental stimuli such as cigarette smoke, the major risk factor for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Based on the current paradigm that, in response to smoking, AM contribute to both inflammatory and tissue remodeling processes in the lung relevant to the pathogenesis of COPD, we hypothesized that chronic exposure to cigarette smoking activates both the M1 and M2 polarization programs in AM. Methods and Findings: To assess this hypothesis, global transcriptional profiling with TaqMan confirmation and flow cytometry analysis was carried out on AM obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage of 24 healthy nonsmokers, 34 healthy smokers and 12 smokers with COPD to assess the expression of 41 M1 genes and 32 M2 genes in each group. Contrary to our expectations, while there was up-regulation of some genes typical for M2-related phenotypes, AM of healthy smokers exhibited substantial suppression of M1-related inflammatory/immune genes. These M1- and M2-related changes progressed with the development of smoking-induced lung disease, with AM of smokers with COPD exhibiting further down-regulation of M1-related genes accompanied with further up-regulation of some M2-related genes. Conclusion: The data demonstrates that the modifications of the AM transcriptome associated with smoking result in a unique phenotype characterized by reprogramming of AM towards M1-deactivated partially M2-polarized macrophages and suggests that, while AM likely contribute to smoking-induced tissue remodeling, the role of AM in the early pathogenesis of smoking-induced COPD in humans is not inflammatory. This concept is a departure from the conventional concept that AM-mediated inflammation participates in the early derangements of the lung induced by smoking, and suggests a novel paradigm for conceptualizing COPD and developing new approaches to prevent the development of smoking-induced lung disease.

Project description:Background: Macrophage polarization programs, commonly referred to as “classical” and “alternative” activation, are widely considered as distinct states that are exclusive of one another, and are associated with different functions such as inflammation and wound healing, respectively. In a number of disease contexts, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), macrophage polarization influences the extent of pathogenesis, and efforts are underway to eliminate pathogenic subsets. However, previous studies have not distinguished whether the simultaneous presence of both classical and alternative activation signatures represents the admixture of differentially polarized macrophages, or if they have adopted a unique state characterized by components of both classical and alternative activation. Results: We analyzed the polarization of individual macrophages responding to TBI using single-cell RNA sequencing. Analysis of signature polarization genes revealed diverse activation states, including M(IL4), M(IL10), and M(LPS, IFNγ). However, the expression of a given polarization marker was no more likely than at random to predict simultaneous expression or repression of markers of another polarization program within the same cell, suggesting a lack of exclusivity in macrophage polarization states in vivo in TBI. Also unexpectedly, individual TBI macrophages simultaneously expressed high levels of signature polarization genes across two or three different polarization states, and in several distinct and seemingly incompatible combinations. Conclusions: Single-cell gene expression profiling demonstrated that monocytic macrophages in TBI are not comprised of distinctly polarized subsets, but are uniquely and broadly activated. TBI macrophage activation in vivo is deeply complex, with individual cells concurrently adopting both inflammatory and reparative features. These data provide physiologically relevant evidence that the early macrophage response to TBI is comprised of novel activation states that are discordant with the current paradigm of macrophage polarization—a key consideration for therapeutic modulation.

Dataset Information

Transcriptome-based network analysis reveals a spectrum model of human macrophage activation [miRNA-seq]

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