Macrophages in keloid are potent at promoting the differentiation and function of regulatory T cells

作者：Jin, Qi; Gui, Lai; Niu, Feng; Yu, Bing; Lauda, Nicole; Liu, Jianfeng; Mao, Xiaoyan; Chen, Ying^*

来源：Experimental Cell Research, 2018, 362(2): 472-476.

DOI：10.1016/j.yexcr.2017.12.011

• Macrophage
• Keloid
• Regulatory T cell

The mechanistic details of keloid formation are still not understood. Given that the immune system is engaged in skin lesion repair, we examined the CD14(+) macrophages and CD3(+) T cells in keloid tissues and in the normal skin. Compared to the normal skin, keloid tissues presented significantly elevated infiltration by CD14(+) macrophages. Moreover, the transcription and protein expression of iNOS, IL-12, IL-10, and TGF-beta were significantly higher in keloid macrophages than in normal skin macrophages, in which the expression of M2-associated genes were further elevated compared to M1-associated genes in keloid. We also observed that keloid tissues presented higher infiltration by CD3(+) T cells, of which the majority was CD4(+) T cells. Notably, the frequency of Foxp3(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) in keloid tissues was significantly higher compared to that in the peripheral blood. Furthermore, macrophages from keloid tissues possessed potent capacity to induce Foxp3 expression in circulating CD3(+) T cells. Together, this study suggested that macrophages in keloid tissues presented high activation status and were polarized toward the M2 subtype; moreover, these macrophages could promote Treg differentiation by upregulating Foxp3 expression.

• 出版日期2018-1-15
• 单位中国医学科学院整形外科医院