{"id":15413,"date":"2026-10-28T12:38:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T07:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=15413"},"modified":"2026-10-28T12:59:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T07:29:29","slug":"macrophages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/macrophages\/","title":{"rendered":"Macrophages: Study Reveals How Ageing Immune Cells May Promote Lung Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Macrophages Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emerging evidence indicates that macrophage behavior emerges from the coordinated integration of ontogenetic imprinting, environmental sensing, metabolic rewiring, and epigenetic remodeling. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Macrophages<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macrophages are <\/span><b>specialised <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/immunity-human-immune-system\/\" target=\"_blank\">white blood cells (WBCs)<\/a><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that play an important <\/span><b>role in the body&#8217;s immune system <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by <\/span><b>engulfing and destroying pathogens, dead cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><b>cellular debris.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Most macrophages develop from monocyte<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s, a <\/span><b>type of WBC<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> produced <\/span><b>in the bone marrow.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Some tissue-resident macrophages originate from embryonic cells.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macrophages do not travel through the blood. Instead, they <\/span><b>remain <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in one part of the body, <\/span><b>within specific tissues.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macrophages are found in many organs and tissues, including the:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brain<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Breast tissue<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liver<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lung<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lymph nodes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Placenta<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spleen<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tonsils<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They <\/span><b>look for and destroy:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Viruses, bacteria, fungi, or other germs (<\/span><b>pathogens<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Infected cells<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Dead<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, aging, or<\/span><b> damaged cells<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Tumor cells<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bits of cells, or<\/span><b> cellular debris<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inactive or less active synapses (the spaces between nerve cells)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Types<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macrophages have <\/span><b>two modes (phenotypes):<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>M1<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or <\/span><b>inflammatory mode<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: M1 macrophages <\/span><b>destroy germs and cancer cells <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>alert immune cells to infections.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>M2<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or <\/span><b>anti-inflammatory mode:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> M2 macrophages <\/span><b>help with wound healing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, clearing out dead cells, and <\/span><b>tissue repair.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macrophages can <\/span><b>switch between M1 and M2 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">modes and can also be somewhere in between.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macrophages are known for their ability to <\/span><b>destroy foreign substances<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that get into your body. But that\u2019s not all they do. Other macrophage<\/span><b> job duties include:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Activating B cells and T cells,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which <\/span><b>helps them target pathogens.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Removing <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dead and <\/span><b>damaged cells.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Destroying cancer cells.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Releasing proteins like cytokines<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that alert other immune cells to infections.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Repairing tissue, <\/span><b>healing wounds, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and reducing inflammation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Reabsorbing minerals into bones<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Breaking down old red blood cells and <\/span><b>recycling the iron.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regulating fetal tissue development.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regulating your organ function and <\/span><b>maintaining homeostasis.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>How do they work?<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Macrophages have receptors<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the outside that they <\/span><b>use like antennae<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These antennae <\/span><b>get signals from substances<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the environment around them.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These could be signals from chemicals or proteins in your body (like cytokines or opsonins). Or they could be antigens, which are like labels on germs, allergens, and cancer cells.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a macrophage <\/span><b>detects something it should get rid of, it swallows or \u201ceats\u201d it<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (a process called <\/span><b>phagocytosis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or <\/span><b>\u201ccell eating\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Then, <\/span><b>it breaks it apart<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> so your <\/span><b>body can get rid of it.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macrophages can <\/span><b>also display a germ\u2019s antigen on themselves<\/b> <b>so that T cells and B cells <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can <\/span><b>recognize it and become activated.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Signals <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">might <\/span><b>also cause<\/b> <b>macrophages to release chemicals <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that<\/span><b> alert other immune cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the area, reduce inflammation, or help regulate a body process.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Macrophages that aren\u2019t working properly<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or that cause too much inflammation can <\/span><b>lead to:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Osteoporosis<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Autoimmune disorders,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like lupus, <\/span><b>rheumatoid arthritis (RA<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), scleroderma, and Type 1 diabetes<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Alcohol-related liver disease<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s, like alcohol-induced hepatitis<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Cancer<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cardiovascular disease, like atherosclerosis<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Neurological diseases,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like Alzheimer\u2019s disease and multiple sclerosis (MS)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Macrophage activation syndrome<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a complication of rheumatological diseases that causes uncontrolled inflammation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macrophages also play a role in organ damage due to sepsis.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41423-026-01486-9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>NAT<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Researchers have found that certain ageing macrophages, immune cells normally responsible for fighting infections, can contribute to early lung tumour development. The findings from experimental studies highlight the complex role of these cells in immunity, cellular ageing and cancer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":130915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11188],"class_list":["post-15413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","tag-macrophages","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15413"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130966,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15413\/revisions\/130966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}