Kupffer cells articles from across Nature Portfolio

Preoperative exercise and a high fitness level can confer protection against postoperative stress. In this issue, Zhang et al. report that a short 4-week exercise regimen before liver surgery induces beneficial immunometabolic adaptations in Kupffer cells. Notably, the exercise-induced expression of immune-responsive gene 1 (Irg1) drives Kupffer cells toward an anti-inflammatory phenotype with decreased markers of postoperative hepatic ischaemia–reperfusion injury.

Two new studies define the liver-derived signals that promote Kupffer cell development from a common monocyte precursor.