Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Analyzing Ex Vivo Metabolic Flux in Splenic and Cardiac Macrophages and Bone Marrow Monocytes
Published on: March 28, 2025
Metallothionein 3 Controls the Phenotype and Metabolic Programming of Alternatively Activated Macrophages
Debabrata Chowdhury1, Hani Alrefai2, Julio A Landero Figueroa3
1Division of Infectious Diseases, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.
Abstract:
Alternatively activated (M2) macrophages promote wound healing but weaken antimicrobial defenses. The mechanisms that enforce macrophage divergence and dictate the phenotypic and metabolic characteristics of M2 macrophages remain elusive. We show that alternative activation with interleukin (IL)-4 induces expression of metallothionein 3 (MT3) that regulates macrophage polarization and function. MT3 was requisite for metabolic reprograming in IL-4-stimulated macrophages or M(IL-4) macrophages to promote mitochondrial respiration and suppress glycolysis. MT3 fostered an M(IL-4) phenotype, suppressed hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)1α activation, and thwarted the emergence of a proinflammatory M1 program in macrophages. MT3 deficiency augmented macrophage plasticity, resulting in enhanced interferon γ (IFNγ) responsiveness and a dampened M(IL-4) phenotype. Thus, MT3 programs the phenotype and metabolic fate of M(IL-4) macrophages.
More Related Videos
08:52Neuron-Macrophage Co-cultures to Activate Macrophages Secreting Molecular Factors with Neurite Outgrowth Activity
Published on: March 30, 2018
11:10High-throughput Assay to Phenotype Salmonella enterica Typhimurium Association, Invasion, and Replication in Macrophages
Published on: August 11, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Alternative RNA Splicing
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
Alternative RNA Splicing
ortho–para-Directing Activators: –CH3, –OH, –⁠NH2, –OCH3
What is Metabolism?
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
The null hypothesis, denoted by H0 is a statement of no difference between the variables—they are not related. This can often be considered the status quo. As a result if you cannot accept the null, it requires some action.
The alternative hypothesis, denoted by H1 or Ha, is a claim about the...
Effect of Hepatic Disease on Pharmacokinetics: Active Drug, Metabolite and Fraction of Metabolized Drug