Alternative and classic activation of primary macrophages – a systems biology approach

Macrophages are central players in lung pathology with both regulatory and effector properties. Besides activation toward the M1 subtype, referred to as classic activation, alternatively activated M2 macrophages have been implicated in pneumonia and allergy. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as a regulatory network with great impact on cellular organization and function. We investigate the role of miRNAs in macrophage polarization and associated diseases. A principal component analysis (PCA), performed with mRNA and miRNA array data from polarized human blood-derived macrophages, provided a numeric syste…