On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages
Macrophages represent the most functionally versatile cells in the animal body. In addition to recognizing and destroying pathogens, macrophages remove senescent and exhausted cells, promote wound healing, and govern tissue and metabolic homeostasis. In addition, many specialized populations of tiss...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Physiology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1128984/full |
| _version_ | 1797896159271845888 |
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| author | Adam Bajgar Adam Bajgar Gabriela Krejčová Gabriela Krejčová |
| author_facet | Adam Bajgar Adam Bajgar Gabriela Krejčová Gabriela Krejčová |
| author_sort | Adam Bajgar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Macrophages represent the most functionally versatile cells in the animal body. In addition to recognizing and destroying pathogens, macrophages remove senescent and exhausted cells, promote wound healing, and govern tissue and metabolic homeostasis. In addition, many specialized populations of tissue-resident macrophages exhibit highly specialized functions essential for the function of specific organs. Sometimes, however, macrophages cease to perform their protective function and their seemingly incomprehensible response to certain stimuli leads to pathology. In this study, we address the question of the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages. To this end, we have searched for the evolutionary origin of macrophages themselves and for the emergence of their characteristic properties. We hypothesize that many of the characteristic features of proinflammatory macrophages evolved in the unicellular ancestors of animals, and that the functional repertoire of macrophage-like amoebocytes further expanded with the evolution of multicellularity and the increasing complexity of tissues and organ systems. We suggest that the entire repertoire of macrophage functions evolved by repurposing and diversification of basic functions that evolved early in the evolution of metazoans under conditions barely comparable to that in tissues of multicellular organisms. We believe that by applying this perspective, we may find an explanation for the otherwise counterintuitive behavior of macrophages in many human pathologies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:37:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f004beacc4b54d3da7585ba6644aed85 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-042X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T07:37:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Physiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f004beacc4b54d3da7585ba6644aed852023-02-23T12:35:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physiology1664-042X2023-02-011410.3389/fphys.2023.11289841128984On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophagesAdam Bajgar0Adam Bajgar1Gabriela Krejčová2Gabriela Krejčová3Faculty of Science, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, CzechiaBiology Centre, Institute of Entomology, Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, CzechiaFaculty of Science, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, CzechiaBiology Centre, Institute of Entomology, Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, CzechiaMacrophages represent the most functionally versatile cells in the animal body. In addition to recognizing and destroying pathogens, macrophages remove senescent and exhausted cells, promote wound healing, and govern tissue and metabolic homeostasis. In addition, many specialized populations of tissue-resident macrophages exhibit highly specialized functions essential for the function of specific organs. Sometimes, however, macrophages cease to perform their protective function and their seemingly incomprehensible response to certain stimuli leads to pathology. In this study, we address the question of the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages. To this end, we have searched for the evolutionary origin of macrophages themselves and for the emergence of their characteristic properties. We hypothesize that many of the characteristic features of proinflammatory macrophages evolved in the unicellular ancestors of animals, and that the functional repertoire of macrophage-like amoebocytes further expanded with the evolution of multicellularity and the increasing complexity of tissues and organ systems. We suggest that the entire repertoire of macrophage functions evolved by repurposing and diversification of basic functions that evolved early in the evolution of metazoans under conditions barely comparable to that in tissues of multicellular organisms. We believe that by applying this perspective, we may find an explanation for the otherwise counterintuitive behavior of macrophages in many human pathologies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1128984/fullDictyosteliumacanthamoebaDrosophilaplasmatocytesarchaeocytesPorifera |
| spellingShingle | Adam Bajgar Adam Bajgar Gabriela Krejčová Gabriela Krejčová On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages Frontiers in Physiology Dictyostelium acanthamoeba Drosophila plasmatocytes archaeocytes Porifera |
| title | On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages |
| title_full | On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages |
| title_fullStr | On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages |
| title_short | On the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages |
| title_sort | on the origin of the functional versatility of macrophages |
| topic | Dictyostelium acanthamoeba Drosophila plasmatocytes archaeocytes Porifera |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1128984/full |
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