Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

Macrophages form a protective cellular barrier in joints

Inflammation and the repair of damaged tissues are regulated by immune cells called macrophages. The finding that they form a layer that shields mouse joints from damage has implications for the treatment of arthritis.
  1. Christopher D. Buckley

    1. Christopher D. Buckley is at the Institute for Inflammation and Ageing, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham B15 2WD, UK, and at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Immune cells called macrophages commonly function as scavenger-like (phagocytic) cells that ingest and remove damaged cells. Writing in Nature, Culemann et al.1 report that the macrophages present in joints also fulfil an unexpectedly different role.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 572, 590-592 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02340-x

References

  1. Culemann, S. et al. Nature 572, 670–675 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Davies, L. C, Jenkins, S. J., Allen, J. E. & Taylor, P. R. Nature Immunol. 14, 986–995 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Buechler, M. B. et al. Immunity 51, 119–130 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Lavin, Y. et al. Cell 159, 1312–1326 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Udalova, I. A., Mantovani, A. & Feldmann, M. Nature Rev. Rheumatol. 12, 472–485 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Tainaka, K., Kuno, A., Kubota, S. I., Murakami, T. & Ueda, H. R. Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 32, 713–741 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Misharin, A. V. et al. Cell Rep. 9, 591–604 (2014).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhang, F. et al. Nature Immunol. 20, 928–942 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Wang, J. & Kubes, P. Cell 165, 668–678 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Uderhardt, S., Martins, A. J., Tsang, J. S., Lammermann, T. & Germain, R. N. Cell 177, 541–555 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Croft, A. P. et al. Nature 570, 246–251 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links