DYNAMICS OF LUNG MACROPHAGE ACTIVATION IN RESPONSE TO INFECTION: INSIGHTS FROM GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSIS

Macrophages play a critical role in maintaining lung health and combating various diseases and infections.Here, I focus on investigating the transcriptional profiles of resident and recruited macrophages, specifically those sorted by CD11c+ and CD11b+, during acute inflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment.By analyzing two independent datasets, this study comprehensively examines the transcriptional characteristics and functional differences between these macrophage subsets.The findings of this research shed light on both the shared and distinct immune response pathways of resident and recruited macrophages, highlighting their collective contribution to pathogen defense while also revealing their unique functionalities during LPS treatment.Moreover, an overlap is observed between the identified recruited macrophage populations and the MCHII+ CD206and MCHII-CD206+ resident macrophage populations.This observation underscores the limitations of the standard gating strategy for distinguishing between macrophage populations and emphasizes the need for new markers to accurately classify these subsets.By significantly contributing to our understanding of macrophage biology, this thesis provides valuable insights into distinguishing the profiles of macrophage populations.The identification of both shared and distinct transcriptional profiles and functional differences between resident and recruited macrophages holds great potential for the development of future therapeutics.Understanding the specific roles and characteristics of these macrophage subsets can aid in the design of targeted interventions to modulate their functions and enhance immune responses in various diseases and infections.