Hypertonic sodium-induced alterations in electrolyte balance and their impact on macrophage immunometabolism and function

免疫细胞能够感知它们的微环境，随后适应它们的能量需求和功能。局部组织Na+浓度随着年龄、炎症和感染而增加。我们和其他人已经表明，高渗Na+微环境改变T细胞和巨噬细胞的功能，在特定的方式。将巨噬细胞暴露于相当于我们在啮齿动物感染皮肤中所见的细胞外高渗Na+，可促进其促炎功能，并降低其调节和抗炎潜力。目前的建议旨在研究Na+处理，巨噬细胞代谢和巨噬细胞功能相互关联的分子机制。拟议的实验可能会揭示新的策略，专门调节免疫反应。

Immune cells are able to sense their microenvironment and subsequently adapt their energy demand and function. Local tissue Na+ concentration increases with age, inflammation and infection. We and others have shown that hypertonic Na+ microenvironments alter T cell and macrophage function in a context-specific manner. Exposure of macrophages to extracellular hypertonic Na+ equivalent to what we had seen e.g. in rodent's infected skin promotes their pro-inflammatory function and curtails their regulatory and anti-inflammatory potential. The present proposal aims to investigate the molecular mechanism how Na+ handling, macrophage metabolism and macrophage function are interconnected. The proposed experiments might unravel novel strategies to specifically modulate immune response.