Dissecting Metabolic Landscape of Alveolar Macrophage
Authors: Malla Sunayana , Sajeevan Karuna Anna , Acharya Bibek , Chowdhury Ratul , Saha Rajib 
Published: September 2023

The highly plastic nature of Alveolar Macrophage (AM) plays a crucial role in the defense against inhaled particulates and pathogens in the lungs. Depending upon the signal, AM acquires either classically activated M1 phenotype or alternatively activated M2 phenotype. These phenotypes have specific functions and unique metabolic traits such as upregulated glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathway in M1 phase and enhanced oxidative phosphorylation and tricarboxylic acid cycle during M2 phase that help maintain the sterility of the lungs. In this study, we investigate the metabolic shift in the activated phases of AM (M1 and M2 phase) and highlight the roles of pathways other than the typical players of central carbon metabolism. Pathogenesis is a complex and elongated process where the heightened requirement for energy is matched by metabolic shifts that supplement immune response and maintain homeostasis. The first step of pathogenesis is fever; however, analyzing the role of physical parameters such as temperature is challenging. Here, we observe the effect of an increase in temperature on pathways such as glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, oxidative phosphorylation, tricarboxylic acid cycle, amino acid metabolism, and leukotriene metabolism. We report the role of temperature as a catalyst to the immune response of the cell. The activity of pathways such as pyruvate metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism, chondroitin/heparan sulfate biosynthesis, and heparan sulfate degradation are found to be important driving forces in the M1/M2 phenotype. We have also identified a list of 34 reactions such as nitric oxide production from arginine and the conversion of glycogenin to UDP which play major roles in the metabolic models and prompt the shift of the M2 phenotype to M1 and vice versa. In future, these reactions could further be probed as major contributors in designing effective therapeutic targets against severe respiratory diseases.

Author Summary

Alveolar macrophage (AM) is highly plastic in nature and has a wide range of functions including invasion/killing of bacteria to maintaining the homeostasis in the lungs. The regulatory mechanism involved in the alveolar macrophage polarization is essential to fight against severe respiratory conditions (pathogens and particulates). Over the years, experiments on mouse/rat models have been used to draw insightful inferences. However, recent advances have highlighted the lack of transmission from non-human models to successfulin vivohuman experiments. Hence using genome-scale metabolic (GSM) models to understand the unique metabolic traits of human alveolar macrophages and comprehend the complex metabolic underpinnings that govern the polarization can lead to novel therapeutic strategies. The GSM models of AMs thus far, has not incorporated the activated phases of AM. Here, we aim to exhaustively dissect the metabolic landscape and capabilities of AM in its healthy and activated stages. We carefully explore the changes in reaction fluxes under each of the conditions to understand the role and function of all the pathways with special attention to pathways away from central carbon metabolism. Understanding the characteristics of each phase of AM has applications that could help improve the therapeutic approaches against respiratory conditions.