Transcriptomic characterization of human pancreatic CD206- and CD206 + macrophages

Macrophages reside in all organs and participate in homeostatic- and immune regulative processes. Little is known about pancreatic macrophage gene expression. In the present study, global gene expression was characterized in human pancreatic macrophage subpopulations. CD206- and CD206 + macrophages were sorted separately from pancreatic islets and exocrine tissue to high purity using flow cytometry, followed by RNA-seq analysis. Comparing CD206- with CD206 + macrophages, CD206- showed enrichment in histones, proliferation and cell cycle regulation, glycolysis and SPP1-associated immunosuppressive polarization while CD206 + showed enrichment in complement and coagulation-, IL-10 and IL-2RA immune regulation, as well as scavenging-related gene sets. Comparing islet CD206- with exocrine CD206-, enrichments in islet samples included two sets involved in immune regulation, while enrichments in exocrine samples included sets related to extracellular matrix and immune activation. Fewer differences were found between CD206 + macrophages, with enrichments in islet samples including two IL2-RA related gene sets, while enrichments in exocrine samples included sets related to extracellular matrix and immune activation. Comparing macrophages between individuals with normoglycemia, elevated HbA1c or type 2 diabetes, only a few diverse differentially expressed genes were identified. This work characterizes global gene expression and identifies differences between CD206- and CD206 + macrophage populations within the human pancreas.