The Transcription Factor Gata6 Links Tissue Macrophage Phenotype and Proliferative Renewal

Gata6 Controls Peritoneal Macs Macrophages seed tissues throughout the body and are shaped both phenotypically and functionally by the microenvironment they inhabit. Despite such heterogeneity, most tissue macrophages self-renew by local proliferation. How this is regulated, however, is unclear. Rosas et al. (p. 645 , published online 24 April) used gene expression analysis to show that the transcription factor Gata6 is specifically expressed in peritoneal macrophages. Gata6 was critical for maintaining the transcriptional signature of peritoneal macrophages and for their proliferative renewal during homeostasis and under inflammatory conditions.