title: Physiological roles of macrophages.
abstract: Macrophages are present in mammals from midgestation, contributing to physiologic homeostasis throughout life. Macrophages arise from yolk sac and foetal liver progenitors during embryonic development in the mouse and persist in different organs as heterogeneous, self-renewing tissue-resident populations. Bone marrow-derived blood monocytes are recruited after birth to replenish tissue-resident populations and to meet further demands during inflammation, infection and metabolic perturbations. Macrophages of mixed origin and different locations vary in replication and turnover, but are all active in mRNA and protein synthesis, fulfilling organ-specific and systemic trophic functions, in addition to host defence. In this review, we emphasise selected properties and non-immune functions of tissue macrophages which contribute to physiologic homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City, 33302, Taiwan. siamon.gordon@path.ox.ac.uk.|Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK. siamon.gordon@path.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Siamon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. luisa.m@nottingham.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2331-127X
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martinez-Pomares
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D009000:Monocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Homeostasis; Macrophages; Phagocytosis; Physiology; Receptors; Tissue heterogeneity