Phenotypic and functional changes of GM-CSF differentiated human macrophages following exposure to apoptotic neutrophils.

The engulfment of apoptotic cells by monocytes and unprimed macrophages results in M2 polarization. In the current study, we investigated whether apoptotic cells influence the phenotypic and functional characteristics of GM-CSF-differentiated human macrophages (GM-Mφ). Our results demonstrate that GM-Mφ preincubated with apoptotic neutrophils (GM-Mφ) show significantly increased expression of CD206 and FasL and decreased capacity to stimulate allogeneic T-cell proliferation thus adopting M2 features.