Rationale Macrophages populate the steady-state myocardium. Previously, all macrophages were thought to arise from monocytes; however, it emerged that in several organs tissue-resident macrophages may self-maintain through local proliferation. Objective To study the contribution of monocytes to cardiac resident macrophages in steady-state, after macrophage depletion in CD11bDTR/+ mice and in myocardial infarction. Methods and Results Using in vivo fate mapping and flow cytometry, we estimated that during steady-state the heart macrophage population turns over in about one month. To explore the source of cardiac resident macrophages, we joined the circulation of mice using parabiosis. After 6 weeks, we observed blood monocyte chimerism of 35.3±3.4% while heart macrophages showed a much lower chimerism of 2.7±0.5% (p<0.01). Macrophages self renewed locally through proliferation: 2.1±0.3% incorporated BrdU 2 hours after a single injection and 13.7±1.4% heart macrophages stained positive for the cell cycle marker Ki67. The cells likely participate in defense against infection, as we found them to ingest fluorescently labeled bacteria. In ischemic myocardium, we observed that tissue resident macrophages died locally while some also migrated to hematopoietic organs. If the steady-state was perturbed by coronary ligation or diphtheria toxin-induced macrophage depletion in CD11bDTR/+ mice, blood monocytes replenished heart macrophages. However, in the chronic phase after myocardial infarction, macrophages residing in the infarct were again independent from the blood monocyte pool, returning to the steady-state situation. Conclusions In this study we show differential contribution of monocytes to heart macrophages during steady-state, after macrophage depletion or in the acute and chronic phase after myocardial infarction. We found that macrophages participate in the immunosurveillance of myocardial tissue. These data correspond with previous studies on tissue-resident macrophages and raise important questions on the fate and function of macrophages during the development of heart failure.

Background Exaggerated and prolonged inflammation after myocardial infarction (MI) accelerates left ventricular remodeling. Inflammatory pathways may present a therapeutic target to prevent post-MI heart failure. However, the appropriate magnitude and timing of interventions are largely unknown, in part because noninvasive monitoring tools are lacking. We here employed nanoparticle-facilitated silencing of CCR2, the chemokine receptor that governs inflammatory Ly-6Chigh monocyte subset traffic, to reduce infarct inflammation in apoE−/− mice after MI. We used dual target PET/MRI of transglutaminase factor XIII (FXIII) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity to monitor how monocyte subset-targeted RNAi altered infarct inflammation and healing. Methods and Results Flow cytometry, gene expression analysis and histology revealed reduced monocyte numbers and enhanced resolution of inflammation in infarcted hearts of apoE−/− mice that were treated with nanoparticle-encapsulated siRNA. To follow extracellular matrix crosslinking non-invasively, we developed a fluorine-18 labeled PET agent (18F-FXIII). Recruitment of MPO-rich inflammatory leukocytes was imaged using a molecular MRI sensor of MPO activity (MPO-Gd). PET/MRI detected anti-inflammatory effects of intravenous nanoparticle-facilitated siRNA therapy (75% decrease of MPO-Gd signal, p<0.05) while 18F-FXIII PET reflected unimpeded matrix crosslinking in the infarct. Silencing of CCR2 during the first week after MI improved ejection fraction on day 21 after MI from 29 to 35% (p<0.05). Conclusion CCR2 targeted RNAi reduced recruitment of Ly-6Chigh monocytes, attenuated infarct inflammation and curbed post-MI left ventricular remodeling.

The ability to reliably identify pancreatic β-cells would have far reaching implications for a greater understanding of β-cell biology, measurement of β-cell mass in diabetes, islet transplantation, and drug development. The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP1R) is highly expressed on the surface of insulin producing pancreatic β-cells. Using systematic modifications of the GLP1R ligand, exendin-4, we screened over 25 compounds and identified a palette of fluorescent exendin-4 with high GLP1R binding affinity. We show considerable differences in affinity, as well as utility of the top candidates for flow cytometry and microscopy of β-cells. Some of the developed compounds should be particularly useful for basic and translational β-cell research.