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Whole-cell MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry is an Accurate and Rapid Method to Analyze Different Modes of Macrophage Activation
Published on: December 26, 2013
Cutting edge: TREM-2 attenuates macrophage activation
Isaiah R Turnbull1, Susan Gilfillan, Marina Cella
1Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Journal of Immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
|September 5, 2006
Summary
Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM-2) restrains macrophage activation. TREM-2 is expressed on infiltrating macrophages and inhibits cytokine production, clarifying its role in immunity.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM-2) signals via DAP12 to regulate myeloid cell function.
- TREM-2's in vivo role in immunity was unclear due to difficulties in detecting its protein expression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate TREM-2 expression patterns on macrophages.
- To elucidate the function of TREM-2 in regulating macrophage activation and cytokine production.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of TREM-2 expression on tissue-infiltrating macrophages.
- Induction of TREM-2 expression using IL-4 and abrogation using LPS or IFN-gamma.
- Assessment of macrophage cytokine production in TREM-2 knockout (TREM-2-/-) mice stimulated with TLR ligands.
Main Results:
- TREM-2 is expressed on macrophages that infiltrate tissues and can be induced by alternative activation (IL-4).
- TREM-2 expression is reduced by maturation signals like LPS and IFN-gamma.
- TREM-2 deficiency leads to increased macrophage cytokine production in response to TLR ligands (LPS, zymosan, CpG).
- TREM-2 accounts for the heightened cytokine production observed in DAP12-deficient macrophages.
Conclusions:
- TREM-2 is present on newly differentiated and alternatively activated macrophages.
- TREM-2 acts as an inhibitory regulator of macrophage activation, restraining cytokine release.
