Summary
Macrophage activation can be divided into a classical and an alternative pathway. Interferon-gamma-induced, classically activated macrophages are indispensable for protective effector responses against intracellular pathogens. However, excessive inflammatory immune responses mediated by classical macrophage activation can also be detrimental to the host. In contrast, the IL-4 receptor-alpha-mediated alternative pathway of macrophage activation has been proposed as a mechanism to attenuate excessive inflammation. Indeed, the generation of macrophage/neutrophil-specific IL-4 receptor-alpha-deficient mice (LysMcreIL-4Rαα-/lox) enables us now to evaluate the importance of this type of macrophage activation in vivo. Thus, the analysis of LysMcreIL-4Rα−/lox mice and the phenotypic characterization of macrophage activation during inflammatory immune responses become of major importance for inflammation research, and useful markers have been identified that allow classically and alternatively activated macrophages to be distinguished. Inducible nitric oxide synthase and arginase-1 are not only prototypical markers of classical and alternative macrophage activation, but both enzymes are also strongly involved in regulating macrophage effector mechanisms and inflammatory immune responses. In this chapter, we describe the use of LysMcreIL-4Rα−/lox mice and present experimental procedures to determine classical versus alternative macrophage activation by analyzing nitric oxide synthase and arginase-1 in vitro and in vivo in this murine model.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Gordon, S. (2003) Alternative activation of macrophages. Nat. Rev. Immunol. 3, 23–35
Holscher, C. (2004) The power of combinatorial immunology: IL-12 and IL-12-related dimeric cytokines in infectious diseases. Med. Microbiol. Immunol. (Berl) 193, 1–17
Goerdt, S. and Orfanos, C. E. (1999) Other functions, other genes: alternative activation of antigen-presenting cells. Immunity 10, 137–142
Holscher, C., Atkinson, R. A., Arendse, B., Brown, N., Myburgh, E., Alber, G., and Brombacher, F. (2001) A protective and agonistic function of IL-12p40 in mycobacterial infection. J. Immunol. 167, 6957–6966
Louis, J., Himmelrich, H., Parra-Lopez, C., Tacchini-Cottier, F., and Launois, P. (1998) Regulation of protective immunity against Leishmania major in mice. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 10, 459–464
Mohrs, M., Ledermann, B., Kohler, G., Dorfmuller, A., Gessner, A., and Brombacher, F. (1999) Differences between IL-4- and IL-4 receptor alpha-deficient mice in chronic leishmaniasis reveal a protective role for IL-13 receptor signaling. J. Immunol. 162, 7302–7308
Herbert, D. R., Holscher, C., Mohrs, M., Arendse, B., Schwegmann, A., Radwanska, M., Leeto, M., Kirsch, R., Hall, P., Mossmann, H., Claussen, B., Forster, I., and Brombacher, F. (2004) Alternative macrophage activation is essential for survival during schistosomiasis and down modulates T helper 1 responses and immunopathology. Immunity 20, 623–635
Noel, W., Hassanzadeh, G., Raes, G., Namangala, B., Daems, I., Brys, L., Brombacher, F., Baetselier, P. D., and Beschin, A. (2002) Infection stage-dependent modulation of macrophage activation in Trypanosoma congolense-resistant and -susceptible mice. Infect. Immun. 70, 6180–6187
Raes, G., Brys, L., Dahal, B. K., Brandt, J., Grooten, J., Brombacher, F., Vanham, G., Noel, W., Bogaert, P., Boonefaes, T., Kindt, A., Van den, B. R., Leenen, P. J., De Baetselier, P., and Ghassabeh, G. H. (2005) Macrophage galactose-type C-type lectins as novel markers for alternatively activated macrophages elicited by parasitic infections and allergic airway inflammation. J. Leukoc. Biol. 77, 321–327
Ghassabeh, G. H., De Baetselier, P., Brys, L., Noel, W., Van Ginderachter, J. A., Meerschaut, S., Beschin, A., Brombacher, F., and Raes, G. (2006) Identification of a common gene signature for type II cytokine-associated myeloid cells elicited in vivo in different pathologic conditions. Blood 108, 575–583
Byrs, L., Beschin, A., Raes, G. G., Hassanzadeh, G. G., Noel, W., Brandt, J., Brombacher, F., and de Baetselier, P. (2005) Reactive Oxygen Species and 12/15-lipoxygenase contribute to the anti-proliferative capacity of alternatively activated myeloid cells elicited during helminth infection. J. Immunol. 174, 6095–6104
Gallina, G., Dolcetti, L., Serafini, P., De Santo, C., Marigo, I., Colombo, M. P., Basso, G., Brombacher, F., Borrello, I., Zanovello, P., Bicciato, S., and Bronte, V. (2006) Tumors induce a subset of inflammatory monocytes with immunosuppressive activity on CD8 + T cells. J. Clin. Invest 116, 2777–2790
Leeto, M., Herbert, D. R., Marillier, R., Schwegmann, A., Fick, L., and Brombacher, F. (2006) TH1-dominant granulomatous pathology does not inhibit fibrosis or cause lethality during murine schistosomiasis. Am. J. Pathol. 169, 1701–1712
Holscher, C., Arendse, B., Schwegmann, A., Myburgh, E., and Brombacher, F. (2006) Impairment of alternative macrophage activation delays cutaneous leishmaniasis in nonhealing BALB/c mice. J. Immunol. 176, 1115–1121
Cao, Y., Brombacher, F., Tunyogi-Csapo, M., Glant, T. T., and Finnegan, A. (2007) Rheumatoid Arthritis (in press)
Green, S. J., Mellouk, S., Hoffman, S. L., Meltzer, M. S., and Nacy, C. A. (1990) Cellular mechanisms of nonspecific immunity to intracellular infection: cytokine-induced synthesis of toxic nitrogen oxides from l-arginine by macrophages and hepatocytes. Immunol. Lett. 25, 15–19
Liew, F. Y., Millott, S., Parkinson, C., Palmer, R. M., and Moncada, S. (1990) Macrophage killing of Leishmania parasite in vivo is mediated by nitric oxide from l-arginine. J. Immunol. 144, 4794–4797
Diefenbach, A., Schindler, H., Rollinghoff, M., Yokoyama, W. M., and Bogdan, C. (1999) Requirement for type 2 NO synthase for IL-12 signaling in innate immunity. Science 284, 951–955
Ehlers, S. and Holscher, C. DTH-associated pathology. In: Kaufmann, S. H. E. 705–730. 2005. London, Arnold Publishing. Microbiology and microbial infections. Topley and Wilson
Rutschman, R., Lang, R., Hesse, M., Ihle, J. N., Wynn, T. A., and Murray, P. J. (2001) Cutting edge: Stat6-dependent substrate depletion regulates nitric oxide production. J. Immunol. 166, 2173–2177
El Gayar, S., Thuring-Nahler, H., Pfeilschifter, J., Rollinghoff, M., and Bogdan, C. (2003) Translational control of inducible nitric oxide synthase by IL-13 and arginine availability in inflammatory macrophages. J. Immunol. 171, 4561–4568
Munder, M., Eichmann, K., and Modolell, M. (1998) Alternative metabolic states in murine macrophages reflected by the nitric oxide synthase/arginase balance: competitive regulation by CD4 + T cells correlates with Th1/Th2 phenotype. J. Immunol. 160, 5347–5354
Clausen, B. E., Burkhardt, C., Reith, W., Renkawitz, R., and Forster, I. (1999) Conditional gene targeting in macrophages and granulocytes using LysMcre mice. Transgenic Res. 8, 265–277
Holscher, C., Kohler, G., Muller, U., Mossmann, H., Schaub, G. A., and Brombacher, F. (1998) Defective nitric oxide effector functions lead to extreme susceptibility of Trypanosoma cruzi-infected mice deficient in gamma interferon receptor or inducible nitric oxide synthase. Infect. Immun. 66, 1208–1215
Munder, M., Eichmann, K., Moran, J. M., Centeno, F., Soler, G., and Modolell, M. (1999) Th1/Th2-regulated expression of arginase isoforms in murine macrophages and dendritic cells. J. Immunol. 163, 3771–3777
Kropf, P., Fuentes, J. M., Fahnrich, E., Arpa, L., Herath, S., Weber, V., Soler, G., Celada, A., Modolell, M., and Muller, I. (2005) Arginase and polyamine synthesis are key factors in the regulation of experimental leishmaniasis in vivo. FASEB J. 19, 1000–1002
Reiling, N., Holscher, C., Fehrenbach, A., Kroger, S., Kirschning, C. J., Goyert, S., and Ehlers, S. (2002) Cutting edge: Toll-like receptor (TLR)2- and TLR4-mediated pathogen recognition in resistance to airborne infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J. Immunol. 169, 3480–3484
Raes, G., De, B. P., Noel, W., Beschin, A., Brombacher, F., and Hassanzadeh, G. G. (2002) Differential expression of FIZZ1 and Ym1 in alternatively versus classically activated macrophages. J. Leukoc. Biol. 71, 597–602
Martinez-Pomares, L., Reid, D. M., Brown, G. D., Taylor, P. R., Stillion, R. J., Linehan, S. A., Zamze, S., Gordon, S., and Wong, S. Y. (2003) Analysis of mannose receptor regulation by IL-4, IL-10, and proteolytic processing using novel monoclonal antibodies. J. Leukoc. Biol. 73, 604–613
Ruckerl, D., Hessmann, M., Yoshimoto, T., Ehlers, S., and Holscher, C. (2006) Alternatively activated macrophages express the IL-27 receptor alpha chain WSX-1. Immunobiology 211, 427–436
Hesse, M., Modolell, M., La Flamme, A. C., Schito, M., Fuentes, J. M., Cheever, A. W., Pearce, E. J., and Wynn, T. A. (2001) Differential regulation of nitric oxide synthase-2 and arginase-1 by type 1/type 2 cytokines in vivo: granulomatous pathology is shaped by the pattern of l-arginine metabolism. J. Immunol. 167, 6533–6544
Acknowledgments
Related projects are supported by grants to FB (The Wellcome Trust and Royal Society, UK; German Research Foundation, Germany; National Research Foundation and Medical Research Council, ZA) and CH (University of Lübeck, Germany, Research Focus “Host Defense against Infectious Diseases”, Project B2 “Arginase-1 mediated modulation of granuloma necrosis and immune defense against mycobacterial infections”; Nation-wide Collaborative Grant: “Pulmonary Tuberculosis – host and pathogen determinants of resistance and disease progression.” Workpackages E (Animal models).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Brombacher, F., Arendse, B., Peterson, R., Hölscher, A., Hölscher, C. (2009). Analyzing Classical and Alternative Macrophage Activation in Macrophage/Neutrophil-Specific IL-4 Receptor-Alpha-Deficient Mice. In: Reiner, N. (eds) Macrophages and Dendritic Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 531. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-396-7_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-396-7_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-972-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-396-7
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols