Specific and Complex Reprogramming of Cellular Metabolism in Myeloid Cells during Innate Immune Responses

Abstract

Renewed interest in immune cell metabolism has led to the emergence of a research field aimed at studying the importance of metabolic processes for an effective immune response. In addition to the adaptive immune system, cells of the myeloid lineage have been shown to undergo robust metabolic changes upon activation. Whereas the specific metabolic requirements of myeloid cells after lipopolysaccharide/TLR4 stimulation have been extensively studied, recent evidence suggested that this model does not represent a metabolic blueprint for activated myeloid cells. Instead, different microbial stimuli, pathogens, or tissue microenvironments lead to specific and complex metabolic rewiring of myeloid cells. Here we present an overview of the metabolic heterogeneity in activated myeloid cells during health and disease. Directions for future research are suggested to ultimately provide new therapeutic opportunities. The uniqueness of metabolic signatures accompanying different conditions will require tailor-made interventions to ultimately modulate aberrant myeloid cell activation during disease.

Keywords: Warburg effect; immunometabolism; innate immune response; metabolic complexity; myeloid cells.