Identity, ontogeny, and age-related changes in splenic white pulp macrophages in mouse and human spleen
. The mouse spleen hosts red pulp macrophages (RPM), marginal zone macrophages (MZM), marginal zone metallophilic macrophages (MMM), and tingible body macrophages (TBM). However, their transcriptomic identity, ontogeny, and dynamics during aging are unknown. Furthermore, it is not known whether homologous populations of macrophages exist in the human spleen. We find that in mice, MZM and MMM are tissue-resident macrophages that maintain their population via local proliferation, while TBM are slowly replaced by circulating monocytes. Lineage tracing shows that MMM maintain the MZM pool, and that after MMM depletion, circulating monocytes restore MMM. We show that a decrease in MMM abundance in aging precedes changes in other cellular populations and splenic niches. In human spleen, we identify TBM and perifollicular zone macrophages (PFZM) as a single macrophage population homologous to MMM and MZM in mice. We show that in both mouse and human TBM become more abundant during aging. Our results suggest age-related changes in the splenic microenvironment drive changes in tissue-resident splenic macrophage populations with potential importance for the loss of immunologic function in older individuals.
Authors
- Suchitra Swaminathan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8292-122X)
- Ryan P. Merkow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8752-4653)
- Alexander V. Misharin
- Chitaru Kurihara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3536-4675)
- Duc Thi Hong Phan
- Mary Carns (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5063-156X)
- Rogan A. Grant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0655-0882)
- Ankit Bharat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1248-0457)
- Harris Perlman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4174-608X)
- Yuliana V. Sokolenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9872-0484)
- Z. Lu
- Natania S. Field (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8863-7353)
- Constance E. Runyan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9335-7997)
- Radmila Nafikova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2850-9178)
- Karolina J. Senkow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9942-3529)
- Stephanie C. Eisenbarth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1244-208X)
- Kalyn R. Thayer
- Elsie G. Bunyan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6589-6965)
- Zhan Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4389-0384)
- Anthony D. Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9053-0974)
- William T. Plodzeen
- M. Schleck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2490-723X)
- G.R. Scott Budinger
- Hiam Abdala-Valencia
- Samuel E. Weinberg
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- Science North (CA)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Lung Institute (US)
- Society of Surgical Oncology (US)
- Northwestern Medicine (US)
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University
- Indiana University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-04-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.02.716095
- Primary Topic
- Immune cells in cancer
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00