Journal
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN IMMUNOLOGY
Volume 21, Issue 5, Pages 399-425Publisher
BEGELL HOUSE INC
DOI: 10.1615/critrevimmunol.v21.i5.10
Keywords
macrophages; dendritic cells; nitric oxide; arginase; ornithine
Categories
Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [R0IGM 51495] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Macrophages can metabolize arginine to nitric oxide in quantities that inhibit pathogens or nearby host cells. They can instead metabolize arginine to ornithine (a precursor of polyamines and collagen) in quantities that stimulate pathogens or nearby host cells. Macrophages are essentially the only circulating cells that can make these life or death decisions with arginine. Macrophages expressing these destructive or constructive phenotypes have been termed M-1 or M-2 because they also stimulate T(H)1 or T(H)2 responses, respectively. Factors that influence whether a macrophage expresses the M-1 or M-2 phenotype and the real or potential impact on immune responses and other host processes are discussed.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available