Key Points• Analysis of CSF-1R pTyrregulated messenger RNAs identifies novel signaling nodes and networks that can be targeted to modulate macrophage functions.• miR-21 is a novel CSF-1R pTyr-721-induced molecule that suppresses the macrophage M1 phenotype and enhances the M2 phenotype.Macrophage polarization between the M2 (repair, protumorigenic) and M1 (inflammatory) phenotypes is seen as a continuum of states. The detailed transcriptional events and signals downstream of colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF-1R) that contributes to amplification of the M2 phenotype and suppression of the M1 phenotype are largely unknown. Macrophage CSF-1R pTyr-721 signaling promotes cell motility and enhancement of tumor cell invasion in vitro. Combining analysis of cellular systems for CSF-1R gain of function and loss of function with bioinformatic analysis of the macrophage CSF-1R pTyr-721-regulated transcriptome, we uncovered microRNA-21 (miR-21) as a downstream molecular switch controlling macrophage activation and identified extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and nuclear factor-kB as CSF-1R pTyr-721-regulated signaling nodes. We show that CSF-1R pTyr-721 signaling suppresses the inflammatory phenotype, predominantly by induction of miR-21. Profiling of the miR-21-regulated messenger RNAs revealed that 80% of the CSF-1-regulated canonical miR-21 targets are proinflammatory molecules. Additionally, miR-21 positively regulates M2 marker expression. Moreover, miR-21 feeds back to positively regulate its own expression and to limit CSF-1R-mediated activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and nuclear factor-kB. Consistent with an anti-inflammatory role of miRNA-21, intraperitoneal injection of mice with a miRNA-21 inhibitor increases the recruitment of inflammatory monocytes and enhances the peritoneal monocyte/macrophage response to lipopolysaccharide. These results identify the CSF-1R-regulated miR-21 network that modulates macrophage polarization. (Blood. 2015;125(8):e1-e13)
IntroductionMacrophages protect the host against infection and injury and facilitate tissue remodeling.1 However, they frequently accumulate in pathological settings, including cancers, 2 atherosclerosis, 3 metabolic disease, 4 and sepsis, 5 where they respond to microenvironmental cues that can be detrimental to the host. Two distinct extreme states of polarized activation have been described in macrophages:6,7 the classically activated (M1) and the alternatively activated (M2) macrophage phenotypes, each characterized by well-described markers. 5,6,[8][9][10][11] M1 macrophages produce proinflammatory cytokines, elevate the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase 2 (iNOS) and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II), 12 and can play antitumorigenic roles. 5,9 In contrast, the M2 macrophages have increased expression of scavenger receptors, increased activation of the arginase pathway, low expression of interleukin-12 (IL-12), high expression of IL-10 and IL-1RA, and increased anti-inflammatory responses a...