| First Author | Tavor S | Year | 2002 |
| Journal | Blood | Volume | 99 |
| Issue | 5 | Pages | 1794-801 |
| PubMed ID | 11861297 | Mgi Jnum | J:75089 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:2175935 | Doi | 10.1182/blood.v99.5.1794 |
| Citation | Tavor S, et al. (2002) Macrophage functional maturation and cytokine production are impaired in C/EBP epsilon-deficient mice. Blood 99(5):1794-801 |
| abstractText | Members of the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) family are involved in the regulation of cellular differentiation and function of many tissues. Unlike the other members of the family, C/EBP epsilon expression is restricted to granulocytes, macrophages, and lymphocytes. C/EBP epsilon is highly conserved between human and rodents and is essential for terminal granulopoiesis in both species. To study the role that C/EBP epsilon plays in macrophages, wild-type and C/EBP epsilon-deficient (-/-) murine macrophages obtained from thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal lavages and differentiated bone marrow cells were compared. Although macrophage development occurred in both types of mice, the C/EBP epsilon -/- cells had a lower expression of macrophage markers and a morphologic and ultrastructural appearance of immaturity. Phagocytic function, measured by calculating the percentage of internalized opsonized fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled yeast, was significantly impaired in the C/EBP epsilon -/- macrophages compared with their wild-type counterparts. Furthermore, the differential expression of 26 macrophage-specific genes between wild-type and C/EBP-/- mice was analyzed. A subset of genes involved in differentiation, immune, and inflammatory responses was found down-regulated in the C/EBP-/- macrophages. Taken together, this study implicates the C/EBP epsilon gene as an important transcription factor required for normal function and development of macrophages. |
