You can lead a macrophage to an inflammatory site but can you make it eat?

The Role of MIF on Eosinophil Biology and Eosinophilic Inflammation

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an inflammatory cytokine that participates in innate and adaptive immune responses. MIF contributes to the resistance against infection agents, but also to the cellular and tissue damage in infectious, autoimmune, and allergic diseases. In the past years, several studies demonstrated a critical role for MIF in the pathogenesis of type-2-mediated inflammation, including allergy and helminth infection. Atopic patients have increased MIF amounts in affected tissues, mainly produced by immune cells such as macrophages, Th2 cells, and eosinophils. Increased MIF mRNA and protein are found in activated Th2 cells, while eosinophils stock pre-formed MIF protein and secrete high amounts of MIF upon stimulation. In mouse models of allergic asthma, the lack of MIF causes an almost complete abrogation of the cardinal signs of the disease including mucus secretion, eosinophilic inflammation, and airway hyper-responsiveness. Additionally, blocking the expression of MIF in animal models leads to significant reduction of pathological signs of eosinophilic inflammation such as rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, eosinophilic esophagitis and helminth infection. A number of studies indicate that MIF is important in the effector phase of type-2 immune responses, while its contribution to Th2 differentiation and IgE production is not consensual. MIF has been found to intervene in different aspects of eosinophil physiology including differentiation, survival, activation, and migration. CD4+ T cells and eosinophils express CD74 and CXCR4, receptors able to signal upon MIF binding. Blockage of these receptors with neutralizing antibodies or small molecule antagonists also succeeds in reducing the signals of inflammation in experimental allergic models. Together, these studies demonstrate an important contribution of MIF on eosinophil biology and in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases and helminth infection.

C-reactive protein does not opsonize early apoptotic human neutrophils, but binds only membrane-permeable late apoptotic cells and has no effect on their phagocytosis by macrophages

Background

It has been reported that C-reactive protein (CRP) binds both leukocyte FcγRIIA (CD32) and the plasma membrane of apoptotic cells. Since FcγRIIA becomes functionally enabled during neutrophil apoptosis, we sought to determine whether CRP bound to apoptotic neutrophils via FcγRIIA.

Methods

We prepared directly labelled CRP and demonstrated that it was essentially free of IgG. We looked for evidence of CRP binding to intact, membrane impermeable apoptotic human neutrophils and to FcγRIIA-transfected Jurkat cells. We examined the functional consequences of incubation with CRP upon phagocytosis of apoptotic cells by human monocyte-derived macrophages.

Results

We could not detect binding of purified soluble CRP to classical early apoptotic human neutrophils or to FcγRIIA-transfected Jurkat cells. In contrast, membrane-permeable late apoptotic neutrophils exhibited strong CRP binding, which comprised both Ca²⁺-dependent and heparin-inhibitable Ca²⁺-independent components. However, there was no effect of CRP binding upon phagocytosis of late apoptotic neutrophils by macrophages.

Conclusion

Potential apoptotic cell opsonins such as CRP may bind only to intracellular structures in cells with leaky membranes that have progressed to a late stage of apoptosis.