# Traffic and functional polarization of macrophages in the areas of programmed interdigital cell death in the embryonic chick

## TL;DR

The study explores how macrophages contribute to digit development in embryonic chicks through distinct populations and functional roles during tissue remodeling.

## Contribution

The paper identifies two distinct macrophage populations with different origins and molecular profiles during embryonic digit development.

## Key findings

- Resident macrophages precede interdigital cell death in embryonic limb development.
- Macrophages exhibit an M2/anti-inflammatory gene signature during tissue remodeling.
- M1-proinflammatory genes are upregulated at the end of tissue remodeling.

## Abstract

In this study, we show that during digit development, the embryonic limb contains an abundant and widespread population of “resident macrophages” that precede the onset of interdigital cell death responsible for the separation of digit primordia. The use of cultures of interdigital mesoderm at different remodeling stages, and GFP+ transgenic embryos in which the distal part of the autopodium has been surgically replaced by a fragment with identical characteristics from wild-type embryos, indicate that “transient macrophages” are also recruited at the beginning of interdigital death. The expression of the Pu.1 gene in coincidence with the onset of interdigital death suggests that primary yolk-sac macrophages are later complemented by macrophages of hematopoietic origin. Q-PCR analysis revealed a predominant M2/anti-inflammatory gene signature in the interdigits during the whole remodeling process that correlated with an interdigital transcriptome including Csf1, Il-34, Igf1, Igfbp5, Tgfβ4 (Tgfβ1 in mammals), P75NTR/ Tnfrsf16, Hgf, Vegfa, that presumably stabilizes the macrophage M2 phenotype. However, M1-proinflammatory genes, including Tnfα and Tlr4, are expressed at very low levels prior to the onset of cell death but become up-regulated at the end of tissue remodeling. Together, our findings support the existence of “Tissue-Resident” and “Passenger/Transitory” macrophage populations of distinct origin and molecular profile participating in tissue remodeling processes associated with embryonic morphogenesis.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10495-026-02303-4.