Physiological roles of macrophages

Siamon Gordon*, Luisa Martinez-Pomares

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

156 Scopus citations

Abstract

Macrophages are present in mammals from midgestation, contributing to physiologic homeostasis throughout life. Macrophages arise from yolk sac and foetal liver progenitors during embryonic development in the mouse and persist in different organs as heterogeneous, self-renewing tissue-resident populations. Bone marrow-derived blood monocytes are recruited after birth to replenish tissue-resident populations and to meet further demands during inflammation, infection and metabolic perturbations. Macrophages of mixed origin and different locations vary in replication and turnover, but are all active in mRNA and protein synthesis, fulfilling organ-specific and systemic trophic functions, in addition to host defence. In this review, we emphasise selected properties and non-immune functions of tissue macrophages which contribute to physiologic homeostasis.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)365-374
Number of pages10
JournalPflugers Archiv European Journal of Physiology
Volume469
Issue number3-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 04 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Homeostasis
  • Macrophages
  • Phagocytosis
  • Physiology
  • Receptors
  • Tissue heterogeneity

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