What is it about?
Most of our major organs are surrounded by fluid-filled sacs known as serosal spaces. Serosal spaces were once thought to serve only as cushions to protect important organs from physical damage, but research in the past few years has shown that these cavities contain immune cells that are important for the immune health of the organs they surround. The pleural cavity is the serosal space that surrounds the lungs. In this paper, we used computational and immunological experiments in influenza mouse models to show that the macrophages from the pleural cavity can enter the lungs to decrease lung inflammation and improve disease outcomes during influenza virus infection.
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Why is it important?
Our findings show that pleural macrophages participate in recovery from influenza virus infections. Given their longevity and plasticity, macrophages are ideal cell types to manipulate or therapeutically target. Selectively modulating pleural macrophages could provide a new strategy for treating severe lung infections.
Perspectives
The pleural cavity is a relatively understudied part of the body. I hope that this paper will get people thinking about the pleural cavity as an important contributor to lung health. Most drugs for influenza and other viral diseases are designed to target viral proteins and processes. However, a complementary approach is to target the immune cells that respond to the infection. Our article makes a strong case for further research into the roles of pleural cavity cells in lung responses to infection and injury.
Juliet Morrison
University of California Riverside
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pleural macrophages translocate to the lung during infection to promote improved influenza outcomes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 2023, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2300474120.
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