Strategy of Macrophage Reprogramming to Influence Disease Outcome.

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Guest Editors

Natacha Ipseiz

Cardiff University

After completing her education in France, Dr. Natacha Ipseiz obtained her PhD in 2014 from the University of Erlangen, Germany where she joined Prof. Georg Schett and Prof. Gerhard Kroenke’s group. She studied the role of macrophages in the maintenance of self-tolerance. She later went on to specialize in the field of macrophage in regenerative process. In 2016, she joined Prof. Philip Taylor’s group in Cardiff University. As a research associate, she investigates the role of the transcription Gata6, a master regulator of resident macrophages health and function, on macrophage’s behaviour. Now her work focuses on understanding the macrophage’s response to pro-inflammatory environment and how it can be modified to impact resolution.

Farida Djouad

INSERM

Farida Djouad received her PhD in Biology and Health from Montpellier University in Prof. Jorgensen’s laboratory, France, in 2005. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIAMS), Bethesda, in Prof. Tuan’s laboratory in the field of mesenchymal stem cells and cartilage engineering. In 2013, she was recruited at INSERM as a senior scientist (INSERM U1183) and started to head her own group “Stem cells, blastema, and regeneration” at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Biotherapy, Montpellier, France. She pioneered research in the immunoregulatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). This discovery has a tremendous impact on clinical trials using mesenchymal stem cells and made her an internationally recognized researcher in this field. In 2021, she was promoted to research director at INSERM in part due to her significant contribution to the understanding of in vitro and in vivo mechanisms involved in the immunosuppressive properties of mesenchymal stem cells and their therapeutic potential in osteoarticular diseases. Currently, her group aims at developing: 1) innovative strategies to optimize the immunomodulatory and pro-regenerative capacities of MSC and MSC derivatives, and 2) innovative solutions to evaluate in vivo the regenerative and immunomodulatory effects of modified MSC and their derivatives for preclinical and clinical protocols.

Collection Overview

Macrophages, also known as professional phagocytes, have been shown to play essential roles in a variety of functions such as development, homeostasis, tissue repair, and host defence. Recent research has allowed for a deeper understanding of macrophage diversity, function, and origin. It is now clear that their dysfunction and dysregulation can lead to the onset and progression of various disorders including neurodegeneration, cancer, autoimmunity, and metabolic diseases; placing macrophages as a key target to modify to influence disease outcome. However, the efficient and stable reprogramming of macrophages must overcome multiple challenges, especially for in vivo application. The aim of this method collection is to give an overview of the most recent and cutting-edge technologies and methods developed to date to target macrophages and influence disease outcome.