Regulatory network architecture constrains inflammatory responses in tissue-resident alveolar macrophages

Macrophages across different tissues exhibit remarkable functional diversity while maintaining core innate immune-cell programming. These complex programs are governed by gene regulatory networks, in which precise transcription factor activity tunes the expression of functionally relevant gene modules. Although the contributions of individual transcription factors have been well characterized, the higher-order regulatory interactions that coordinate tissue-resident macrophage identity and inflammatory response regulation remain poorly understood. Here, we integrate single-cell RNA-seq data with ATAC-seq profiling and deep-learning-based chromatin accessibility modeling to infer gene regulatory network architectures in tissue-resident versus recruited monocyte-derived alveolar macrophages under inflammatory stress. Our results suggest that inflammatory responses are more restrained in tissue-resident alveolar macrophages compared with recruited macrophages due to a stabilizing regulatory network architecture involving PU.1 and CEBP/β. This work advances our understanding of functional plasticity in tissue-resident macrophages and their role in host defense.