Journal: Communications Biology
Article Title: An ontogeny-cytokine code determines macrophage response polarity and tumor outcomes
doi: 10.1038/s42003-026-09853-y
Figure Lengend Snippet: A Experimental workflow used to generate reference macrophage states. BM precursors were differentiated with GM-CSF or M-CSF and skewed with IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10, or TGF-β, yielding eight cytokine × ontogeny macrophage states. Macrophages were harvested on day 7 for live-cell imaging, morphological analysis, and T-cell co-culture assays. Color code: Control (gray), IFN-γ (blue), IL-4 (green), IL-10 (yellow), TGF-β (orange-red). B Time-lapse live microscopy of Arg1-YFP (green) and Spp1‑IRES‑tdTomato (red) reporter macrophages. Curves plot mean fluorescence over 100 h for each cytokine in M-CSF and GM-CSF cultures (representative of three independent experiments; six imaging fields per well per condition were analyzed). Timepoint 0 represents the time of cytokine stimulation (day 3 of culture). IL-4 induces a progressive ARG1 signal only in M-CSF macrophages; IL-10 (and weakly TGF-β) induces SPP1 almost exclusively in GM-CSF macrophages; unpolarized and IFN-γ macrophages maintain low expression of both reporters throughout. C Representative fluorescence micrographs showing label-free cell classification based on automated quantification of cell area (primary metric for GM-CSF macrophages) and eccentricity (primary metric for M-CSF macrophages). Images were acquired using live-cell imaging (Incucyte) and analyzed using the Advanced Label-Free Classification Module. Pseudo-color overlay indicates morphometric values: cyan = low (round cells with low area/eccentricity), magenta = high (elongated or large cells with high area/eccentricity). Representative images shown for each cytokine treatment in both M-CSF and GM-CSF cultures. Scale bar = 200 µm. D Z -scored classification data from four independent biological replicates (open circles). Eccentricity (primary morphological discriminant for M-CSF macrophages) and cell area (primary morphological discriminant for GM-CSF macrophages). Z -scores were calculated across all conditions to enable direct comparison. E Flow-cytometric contour plots for CD11b and MHC-II expression in GM-CSF macrophages across all treatment conditions and CFSE dilution histograms of OT-II specific CD4+ T cells co-cultured with peptide-pulsed GM-CSF macrophages. F Bar graphs of the cumulative data showing the fraction of OT-II CD4+ T cells that underwent proliferation. Data represent mean ± SEM from n = 6 independent cultures, one-way ANOVA Tukey‒Kramer posttest corrected for multiple comparisons (Control vs IL‑10 p < 0.0001; control vs TGF‑β p < 0.0001; IFN‑γ vs IL‑10 p < 0.0001; IFN‑γ vs TGF‑β p < 0.0001; IL‑4 vs IL‑10 p < 0.0001; IL‑4 vs TGF‑β p < 0.0001. All other comparisons, including control vs IFN‑γ, control vs IL‑4, IFN‑γ vs IL‑4, and IL‑10 vs TGF‑β were not significant ( p > 0.05; ns).
Article Snippet: Segmentation and single‐cell morphometry (eccentricity, projected area) were performed using the Incucyte® Advanced Label‐Free Classification Module (Sartorius).
Techniques: Live Cell Imaging, Co-Culture Assay, Control, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Imaging, Expressing, Comparison, Cell Culture