GATA2 downregulation contributes to pro-inflammatory phenotype and defective phagocytosis of pulmonary macrophages in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Pulmonary macrophages from COPD patients are characterized by lower phagocytic and bactericidal activity whereas there is hypersecretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The prominent decline of GATA2 expression in pulmonary macrophages from COPD patients inspired us to figure out its role during COPD development. The expression levels of GATA2 were decreased in alveolar macrophages isolated from cigarette smoke (CS)-induced COPD mice and cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-treated macrophages. <i>In vitro</i>, both CSE and GATA2 knockdown via siRNAs elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines expression whereas inhibiting phagocytosis in macrophages. Integrated analysis of transcriptomics of GATA2-knockdown macrophages and the results of ChIP sequencing of GATA2 together with dual-luciferase reporter assay identified <i>Abca1</i> and <i>Pacsin1</i> as functional target genes of GATA2. Mechanistically, ABCA1 mediates the pro-inflammatory secretion phenotype and the dysfunction in early stage of phagocytosis of macrophages through TLR4/MyD88 and MEGF10/GULP1 pathways, respectively. PACSIN1/SUNJ1 partially mediates the disruption effects of GATA2 downregulation on maturation of phagolysosomes in macrophages. Together, our study suggests that GATA2 influences multiple functions of pulmonary macrophages by simultaneous transcriptional regulation of several target genes, contributing to the dysfunctions of pulmonary macrophages in response to CS, which provides an impetus for further investigations of GATA2 or other underappreciated transcription factors as regulatory hubs in COPD pathogenesis.