Mitochondrial function in macrophages controls cardiac repair after myocardial infarction

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  Figure 1. Myeloid-specific deletion of the mitochondrial complex I protein Ndufs4 compromises macrophage function during cardiac repair after MI. Following acute MI, immune cells, including monocyte-derived macrophages, remove cell debris through efferocytosis but can also amplify the inflammatory response by secreting proinflammatory mediators. Subsequently, proinflammatory macrophages transition from a proinflammatory to a reparative phenotype, a process that associates with metabolic remodeling: shifting from relying on glycolysis (associated with the proinflammatory phenotype) toward mitochondrial OXPHOS (associated with the reparative phenotype). This transition is characterized by increased secretion of antiinflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and repair factors that stimulate the activation and proliferation of cardiac myofibroblasts, which promote tissue repair and scar formation. In this issue of the JCI, Cai, Zhao, and co-authors (20) report that mitochondrial dysfunction in macrophages, induced by Ndufs4 deletion, can cause excessive mitochondrial ROS production, which primes the cells to a greater inflammatory response while impairing efferocytosis. This process, in turn, blunts…