Institute of Neuropathology

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors regulating macrophage development and homeostasis

Resident tissue macrophages are found in nearly all metazoan organisms and are distributed throughout most tissues in the body. In vertebrates, it was recently shown that most resident macrophage populations are long-lived cell populations of embryonic origin with a slow endogenous turn over. Similarly in adult Drosophila, tissue macrophages are long-lived cells with embryonic or larval origin, however these cells do not show any turn-over or proliferation. In many tissues, macrophages offer a first line of defense upon injury or infection by secretion of a wide range of inflammatory molecules as well as the efficient phagocytosis of cell debris or pathogens. Beside their role in infection and inflammation, tissue macrophages also serve a plethora of physiological effects on the function of the organ and result in severe pathologies. In our group, we are interested to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic factors which control the establishment of a healthy and homeostatic macrophage network within adult tissues. Besides studying macrophages in the mouse model, we take advantage of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, as a model to screen for potential candidate genes involved in physiological macrophage function.