The Macrophage Axis in Inter-Organ Physiology

Our lab aims to explore novel inter-organ communication mechanisms where macrophages act as key players in regulating systemic homeostasis during both steady state and pathophysiological conditions. We hypothesize that macrophages serve as central information hubs that link environmental signals to whole-body physiology. Our research seeks to answer two fundamental questions:

1. Sensing and Signaling: How do macrophages utilize their extensive array of membrane receptors to sense both external and internal stimuli? Furthermore, how do they respond by disseminating growth factors to stimulate and modulate the physiology of surrounding and distal organs?

2. Integration and Priming: How do macrophages integrate diverse stimuli simultaneously to prime a specific, appropriate adaptive response across the organism?

Our Experimental Approach:

To address these questions, we use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as our primary animal model. This powerful system allows us to combine:

• Genetics and Behavioral Analysis

• Confocal Imaging and Cell Biology

• Metabolomics and Next-Generation Sequencing

Furthermore, we apply environmental challenges to Drosophila to actively modulate macrophage behavior and systemic physiology, providing a dynamic view of their regulatory role.

Translational Vision and Collaboration:

We focus on identifying fundamental regulatory mechanisms governed by macrophages that are evolutionarily conserved and potentially extrapolatable to all metazoans. To ensure the broad impact of our findings, we actively seek collaborations with other labs to corroborate our discoveries in vertebrate models, including mouse, zebrafish, and human cells.