Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 May 8;44(1):23.
doi: 10.1186/s41232-024-00335-4.

Function of alveolar macrophages in lung cancer microenvironment

Takahiro Matsui  1   2 , Seiji Taniguchi  3   4   5 , Masaru Ishii  3
Affiliations
Review

Function of alveolar macrophages in lung cancer microenvironment

Takahiro Matsui et al. Inflamm Regen. .

Abstract

Background: Cancer tissues contain a wide variety of immune cells that play critical roles in suppressing or promoting tumor progression. Macrophages are one of the most predominant populations in the tumor microenvironment and are composed of two classes: infiltrating macrophages from the bone marrow and tissue-resident macrophages (TRMs). This review aimed to outline the function of TRMs in the tumor microenvironment, focusing on lung cancer.

Review: Although the functions of infiltrating macrophages and tumor-associated macrophages have been intensively analyzed, a comprehensive understanding of TRM function in cancer is relatively insufficient because it differs depending on the tissue and organ. Alveolar macrophages (AMs), one of the most important TRMs in the lungs, are replenished in situ, independent of hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow, and are abundant in lung cancer tissue. Recently, we reported that AMs support cancer cell proliferation and contribute to unfavorable outcomes.

Conclusion: In this review, we introduce the functions of AMs in lung cancer and their underlying molecular mechanisms. A thorough understanding of the functions of AMs in lung cancer will lead to improved treatment outcomes.

Keywords: INHBA; Activin A; Alveolar macrophage; Cancer microenvironment; Lung cancer; Tissue-resident macrophage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The schematic diagram of the orthotopic lung cancer model. Mice were anesthetized and placed in the right lateral decubitus position. A small skin incision to the left chest wall was made parallel to the ribs to inoculate cancer cells in the left lung
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Immunohistochemical staining of the normal lung area (left) and lung cancer area (right) from patients with lung cancer. Purple cells indicate CD163+ macrophages and brown nuclei indicate alveolar epithelial cells or carcinoma cells positive for thyroid transcription factor-1. Scale bars; 50 μm
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The schematic diagram of the activin A-producing AM subtype in the lung cancer microenvironment
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Schenkel JM, Pauken KE. Localization, tissue biology and T cell state - implications for cancer immunotherapy. Nat Rev Immunol. 2023;23(12):807–823. doi: 10.1038/s41577-023-00884-8. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bald T, Krummel MF, Smyth MJ, Barry KC. The NK cell-cancer cycle: advances and new challenges in NK cell-based immunotherapies. Nat Immunol. 2020;21(8):835–847. doi: 10.1038/s41590-020-0728-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Xue R, Zhang Q, Cao Q, Kong R, Xiang X, Liu H, et al. Liver tumour immune microenvironment subtypes and neutrophil heterogeneity. Nature. 2022;612(7938):141–147. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05400-x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Christofides A, Strauss L, Yeo A, Cao C, Charest A, Boussiotis VA. The complex role of tumor-infiltrating macrophages. Nat Immunol. 2022;23(8):1148–1156. doi: 10.1038/s41590-022-01267-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hashimoto D, Chow A, Noizat C, Teo P, Beasley MB, Leboeuf M, et al. Tissue-resident macrophages self-maintain locally throughout adult life with minimal contribution from circulating monocytes. Immunity. 2013;38(4):792–804. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2013.04.004. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources