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REVIEW article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbes and Innate Immunity
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1457323
This article is part of the Research Topic Metabolic Plasticity Induced by Bacterial Infection in Macrophages View all 3 articles

Macrophage Variants in Laboratory Research: Most are well done, but some are RAW

Provisionally accepted
Marc Herb Marc Herb 1*Valentin Schatz Valentin Schatz 1Karina Hadrian Karina Hadrian 2Deniz Hos Deniz Hos 2Jonathan Jantsch Jonathan Jantsch 1Natascha Brigo Natascha Brigo 1*
  • 1 Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
  • 2 Center for Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Macrophages play a pivotal role in the innate immune response. While their most characteristic function is phagocytosis, it is important not to solely characterize macrophages by this activity. Their crucial roles in body development, homeostasis, repair, and immune responses against pathogens necessitate a broader understanding. Macrophages exhibit remarkable plasticity, allowing them to modify their functional characteristics in response to the tissue microenvironment (tissue type, presence of pathogens or inflammation, and specific signals from neighboring cells) swiftly. While there is no single defined "macrophage" entity, there is a diverse array of macrophage types because macrophage ontogeny involves the differentiation of progenitor cells into tissue-resident macrophages, as well as the recruitment and differentiation of circulating monocytes in response to tissue-specific cues. In addition, macrophages continuously sense and respond to environmental cues and tissue conditions, adjusting their functional and metabolic states accordingly. Consequently, it is of paramount importance to comprehend the heterogeneous origins and functions of macrophages employed in in vitro studies, as each available in vitro macrophage model is associated with specific sets of strengths and limitations. This review centers its attention on a comprehensive comparison between immortalized mouse macrophage cell lines and primary mouse macrophages. It provides a detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses inherent in these in vitro models. Finally, it explores the subtle distinctions between diverse macrophage cell lines, offering insights into numerous factors beyond the model type that can profoundly influence macrophage function.

    Keywords: macrophage types, primary macrophages, Macrophage-like cell lines, Immunity, macrophage polarization (MP)

    Received: 30 Jun 2024; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Herb, Schatz, Hadrian, Hos, Jantsch and Brigo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Marc Herb, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
    Natascha Brigo, Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.