The Epidermal Growth Factor Ligand Spitz Modulates Macrophage Efferocytosis, Wound Responses and Migration Dynamics During Embryogenesis.

How multifunctional cells such as macrophages interpret the different cues within their environment and undertake an appropriate response is a key question in developmental biology. Understanding how cues are prioritized is critical to answering this - both the clearance of apoptotic cells (efferocytosis) and the migration toward damaged tissue is dependent on macrophages being able to interpret and prioritize multiple chemoattractants, polarize, and then undertake an appropriate migratory response. Here, we investigate the role of Spitz, the cardinal epidermal growth factor (EGF) ligand, in regulation of macrophage behavior in the developing fly embryo, using activated variants with differential diffusion properties.