The illustration reveals the new function of blood monocytes, specifically their ability to multiply in tissues before separating into macrophages, immune cells that play crucial functions in maintaining body homeostasis and health. Credit: Adeline Deward– Illumine
A current study led by researchers from the University of Liège indicates a heightened role of cell expansion in the performance of our body immune system.
Cell division, or expansion, is important for life, assisting in the advancement of complex organisms from a single cell and the renewal of used up cells from a handful of “stem” cells that specialize and increase. In the context of cancer, however, this cell expansion spirals out of control and ends up being chaotic.
A team of researchers at the University of Lièges GIGA Institute has discovered that specific blood immune cells referred to as monocytes in a healthy individual also have the capacity to proliferate. Their purpose is to renew tissue macrophages, which are crucial for our bodies to function correctly. These findings were recently published in the journal Nature Immunology.
The development of complicated multicellular organisms, which people come from, needs the generation of billions of cells from a minimal number of progenitor cells that have very first multiplied and after that get particular morphologies and functions while assembling into tissues and organs. Our present knowledge suggests that most of the cells that make up a living organism occur from so-called “stem” cells, which have actually been divided by a procedure called mitosis in order to give increase to a higher number of cells. These cells then stop multiplying to specialize, distinguish and form muscles, the brain, bones, immune cells, and more.
Our existing knowledge indicates that many of the cells that constitute a living organism occur from so-called “stem” cells, which have been divided by a process called mitosis in order to offer increase to a greater number of cells. These cells then stop proliferating to specialize, differentiate and form muscles, the brain, bones, immune cells, and more.
In a research study published in Nature Immunology, Professor Thomas Marichal (Professor at ULiège, Welbio investigator at the WEL Research Institute) and his team from the GIGA Institute at ULiège found that this ability to proliferate is not merely limited to stem cells, however is also an as-yet-unknown function of blood immune cells, the monocytes. Blood monocytes, previously thought about as differentiated cells, are capable of generating a swimming pool and multiplying of monocytes in the tissues in order to offer increase to macrophages, which are crucial immune cells that secure us versus microbes and support the appropriate performance of our organs.
When expansion is no longer correctly regulated, this can cause the development of various diseases, among which cancers represent the most striking example. In a study published in Nature Immunology, Professor Thomas Marichal (Professor at ULiège, Welbio private investigator at the WEL Research Institute) and his team from the GIGA Institute at ULiège discovered that this ability to proliferate is not simply restricted to stem cells, however is likewise an as-yet-unknown function of blood immune cells, the monocytes. Blood monocytes, previously considered as differentiated cells, are capable of proliferating and creating a swimming pool of monocytes in the tissues in order to give increase to macrophages, which are important immune cells that protect us against microorganisms and support the appropriate functioning of our organs.
” This is a major fundamental discovery, which changes our conception of the participation of cell proliferation in the constitution and maintenance of our body immune system,” discusses Thomas Marichal, director of the research study. “Our finding likewise suggests that the info that can be drawn from an enumeration of blood monocytes, classically carried out throughout a blood test, would show only little of what is occurring at the level of the tissues, throughout infection or swelling, for instance, because monocytes can multiply when they get in tissues.”
He likewise includes: “Fortunately, this expansion is exceptionally well controlled and does not lead to a tumoral procedure. It has just one objective: to allow, as successfully as possible, the replacement of immune cells that occupy our tissues: the macrophages.”
This discovery, funded by the WEL Research Institute (WELRI– Welbio) and by the European Research Council was possible thanks to the advancement of brand-new tools and the usage of innovative technologies.
” This study is a great example of how technological advances can drive development clinical discoveries. It would have been exceptionally hard, if not difficult, to study with such a resolution this population of multiplying monocytes just 10 years earlier. This required using cutting edge devices just recently got at the GIGA Institute, the generation of complicated genomic information and extremely sophisticated bioinformatics analyses” discusses Domien Vanneste, moneyed by a doctoral grant from the FNRS and first author of the research study.
This research study paves the way for future examinations that will assess the possibility of controlling or controling monocyte expansion for restorative purposes, for the benefit of improved health.
Referral: “MafB-restricted regional monocyte expansion precedes lung interstitial macrophage differentiation” by Domien Vanneste, Qiang Bai, Shakir Hasan, Wen Peng, Dimitri Pirottin, Joey Schyns, Pauline Maréchal, Cecilia Ruscitti, Margot Meunier, Zhaoyuan Liu, Céline Legrand, Laurence Fievez, Florent Ginhoux, Coraline Radermecker, Fabrice Bureau and Thomas Marichal, 16 March 2023, Nature Immunology.DOI: 10.1038/ s41590-023-01468-3.
The research study was funded by the funded by the WEL Research Institute (WELRI– Welbio) and by the European Research Council.