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Updated: Mar 2, 2026

Analyzing Ex Vivo Metabolic Flux in Splenic and Cardiac Macrophages and Bone Marrow Monocytes
Published on: March 28, 2025
Biochemical Underpinnings of Immune Cell Metabolic Phenotypes
Benjamin A Olenchock1, Jeffrey C Rathmell2, Matthew G Vander Heiden3
1Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
The metabolism of immune cells affects their function and influences host immunity. This review explores how immune cell metabolic phenotypes reflect biochemical dependencies and highlights evidence that both the metabolic state of immune cells and nutrient availability can alter immune responses. The central importance of oxygen, energetics, and redox homeostasis in immune cell metabolism, and how these factors are reflected in different metabolic phenotypes, is also discussed. Linking immune cell metabolic phenotype to effector functions is important to understand how altering metabolism can impact the way in which immune cells meet their metabolic demands and affect the immune response in various disease contexts.
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