title: CCR2-and CCR2+corneal macrophages exhibit distinct characteristics and balance inflammatory responses after epithelial abrasion.
abstract: Macrophages are distributed throughout the body and are crucial for the restoration of damaged tissues. However, their characteristics in the cornea and roles in the repair of corneal injures are unclear. Here we show that corneal macrophages can be classified as CCR2-macrophages, which already exist in the cornea at embryonic day 12.5 (E12.5) and are similar to yolk sac-derived macrophages, microglia, in phenotype and gene expression, and CCR2+macrophages, which do not appear in the cornea until E17.5. At a steady state, CCR2-corneal macrophages have local proliferation capacity and are rarely affected by monocytes; however, following corneal epithelial abrasion, most CCR2-corneal macrophages are replaced by monocytes. In contrast, CCR2+macrophages are repopulated by monocytes under both a steady-state condition and following corneal wounding. Depletion of CCR2+macrophages decreases corneal inflammation after epithelial abrasion, whereas depletion of CCR2-macrophages increases inflammation of the injured cornea. Loss of either cell type results in a delay in corneal healing. These data indicate that there are two unique macrophage populations present in the cornea, both of which participate in corneal wound healing by balancing the inflammatory response.
authors.affiliation: Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Postdoctoral Research Station, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.|International Ocular Surface Research Center and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University Medical School, Guangzhou, China.|Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: International Ocular Surface Research Center and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University Medical School, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: International Ocular Surface Research Center and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University Medical School, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: International Ocular Surface Research Center and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University Medical School, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: International Ocular Surface Research Center and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University Medical School, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Images, The Third People's Hospital, Puyang, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: International Ocular Surface Research Center and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University Medical School, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: International Ocular Surface Research Center and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University Medical School, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: International Ocular Surface Research Center and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University Medical School, Guangzhou, China.|Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.|Section of Leukocyte Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002465:Cell Movement; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology*; D065306:Corneal Injuries / Q000276:immunology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006706:Homeostasis; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010641:Phenotype; D011828:Radiation Chimera; D054390:Receptors, CCR2 / Q000378:metabolism; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: C515335:Ccr2 protein, mouse; D054390:Receptors, CCR2