Our Research

Macrophages are immune cells found in the parenchyma of nearly all mammalian tissues and are known for their ability to ingest diverse particles such as cellular debris, bacteria and virus-derived material. Accordingly, macrophages (the ‘big eaters’) play an important role in initiating the nonadaptive immune response and in homeostasis by keeping tissues clean from cellular deposits. Since Ilya Mechnikov first described macrophages in the 19th century, several subtypes have been described and categorised according to their origin, localisation, phenotype, function and, more recently, transcriptome. Some macrophages arise early during embryogenesis and never leave the parenchyma of their host tissue. They are long-lived cells and show self-renewal capacity. However, after infection or injury, tissue-resident macrophages may also derive from circulating monocytes, which locally differentiate in the parenchyma into monocyte-derived macrophages. These newly generated macrophages may also replenish the original macrophage pool. Recent studies indicate that the proportions of embryo- and monocyte-derived macrophages are distinct among tissues and that both subsets fulfil different functions. Our research group is devoted to the study of tissue-resident macrophages (both embryo- and monocyte-derived) in homeostasis and disease. We believe that the function and origin of macrophages can be modulated to enhance, e.g. during tissue repair, or inhibit, e.g. during autoimmunity, the macrophage response when needed. Importantly, this approach may open new therapies for chronic pathologies caused by excessive accumulation of deposits, such as Alzheimer’s disease (amyloid beta), atherosclerosis (plaque) or obesity (lipids/adiposity), and auto-inflammatory processes underlying diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.