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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

metastatic role, macrophages, phagocytosis, cytokines

College

Life Sciences

Department

Microbiology and Molecular Biology

Abstract

Macrophages perform a variety of functions from phagocytosis and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines to the repair and remodeling of damaged tissues. Two phenotypically different types of macrophages have been proposed to identify their diverse roles: types M1 and M2. (Mantovani et al., 2002) The M1 macrophage refers to the cell which aggressively destroys foreign invaders and tumor cells, and releases pro-inflammatory cytokines. Antigen presentation by the M1 links innate immunity to adaptive immunity. The M2 macrophage acts as a support cell by promoting the healing of damaged cells by angiogenesis and tissue remodeling. Macrophages have been observed to have a down regulated destructive ability and that their migration to aggressive tumors can empower the tumors with a high metastatic potential. (Nardin et al., 2008) We believe this particular action of macrophages to be due to the M2 phenotype. If M2 macrophages are responsible for metastasis, then discovering the mechanism can lead to clinically impeding metastasis.

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