Sw. Krause et al., DIFFERENTIAL SCREENING IDENTIFIES GENETIC-MARKERS OF MONOCYTE TO MACROPHAGE MATURATION, Journal of leukocyte biology, 60(4), 1996, pp. 540-545
Maturation of cells of the mononuclear phagocyte lineage from bone mar
row precursors to tissue macrophages (MAC) via circulating blood monoc
ytes (MO) is a multistep process only partially understood, Similarly,
MAC differentiation can be observed if MO are cultured in vitro. In a
n attempt to further characterize molecular changes occurring during t
his process we carried out differential screening of a MO-derived MAC
cDNA library using MO and MAC cDNA, After subcloning and confirmation
by a second round of screening, partial sequencing of 41 cDNA clones w
as performed, In 33 clones the sequences of 7 different previously ide
ntified cDNAs were found, The mRNA expression of two of the correspond
ing genes (apolipoprotein E, ferritin light chain) is already known to
be up-regulated during MAC maturation. For one gene (cathepsin B), a
specific up-regulation of mRNA expression could be shown corresponding
to previous protein data, For four genes [human cartilage glycoprotei
n (HC-gp39), osteopontin, type IV collagenase, and tryptophanyl-tRNA s
ynthetase] the specific expression in MAC versus MO was previously unk
nown but could be confirmed by the use of Northern blot analysis, Of t
hese genes, HC-gp39 is especially interesting because it is only expre
ssed during the late stages of MAC differentiation.