INTRODUCTION Macrophages constitute a heterogeneous population of functionally distinct cells involved in several physiological and pathological processes. They display remarkable plasticity by changing their phenotype and function in response to environmental cues representing a spectrum of different functional phenotypes. The so-called M1 and M2 macrophages are often considered as representative of pro- and anti-inflammatory ends of such spectrum. Metabolomics approach is a powerful tool providing important chemical information about the cellular phenotype of living systems, and the changes in their metabolic pathways in response to various perturbations. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to characterise M1 and M2 phenotypes in THP-1 macrophages in order to identify characteristic metabolites of each polarisation state. METHODS Herein, untargeted liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolite profiling was applied to characterise the metabolic profile of M1-like and M2-like THP-1 macrophages. RESULTS The results showed that M1 and M2 macrophages have distinct metabolic profiles. Sphingolipid and pyrimidine metabolism was significantly changed in M1 macrophages whereas arginine, proline, alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism was significantly altered in M2 macrophages. CONCLUSION This study represents successful application of LC-MS metabolomics approach to characterise M1 and M2 macrophages providing functional readouts that show unique metabolic signature for each phenotype. These data could contribute to a better understanding of M1 and M2 functional properties and could pave the way for developing new therapeutics targeting different immune diseases.

中文翻译：

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使用基于LC-MS的代谢物谱分析对THP-1巨噬细胞极化进行代谢表征。

引言巨噬细胞构成功能不同的细胞的异质群体，这些细胞参与几种生理和病理过程。通过响应代表不同功能表型谱的环境提示，改变其表型和功能，它们表现出了显着的可塑性。所谓的M1和M2巨噬细胞通常被认为是此类光谱的促炎和消炎末端的代表。代谢组学方法是一种功能强大的工具，可提供有关生命系统细胞表型的重要化学信息，以及响应各种扰动的代谢途径的变化。目的本研究旨在表征THP-1巨噬细胞中的M1和M2表型，以鉴定每种极化状态的特征代谢物。方法在这里，基于非靶向液相色谱（LC）-质谱（MS）的代谢物谱分析用于表征M1类和M2类THP-1巨噬细胞的代谢谱。结果结果表明，M1和M2巨噬细胞具有不同的代谢谱。M1巨噬细胞的鞘脂和嘧啶代谢显着改变，而M2巨噬细胞的精氨酸，脯氨酸，丙氨酸，天冬氨酸和谷氨酸代谢显着改变。结论这项研究代表了LC-MS代谢组学方法在表征M1和M2巨噬细胞方面的成功应用，这些M1和M2巨噬细胞的功能读数显示了每种表型的独特代谢特征。