New CRC publication: 

Mapping the hepatic immune landscape identifies monocytic macrophages as key drivers of steatohepatitis and cholangiopathy progression

PIs from external project B05 at Charité Berlin, Adrien Guillot as first author and Frank Tacke as last author, succeeded in publishing their results in the prestigious journal Hepatology.

In this study, we demonstrated that monocytic macrophage accumulation in close vicinity of ductular cells represents a major hallmark of gut disorder-associated human diseases (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cholangitis, and severe alcoholic hepatitis). The discussions within the CRC1382 helped us mature the conceptual ideas around our hypotheses, and project funds were used to conduct the study.

Multiplex immunostaining applied to large scan of human samples showed dramatic and quantifiable changes in liver histology. Chronic liver diseases across varying conditions are characterized by extensive loss of parenchymal areas, and the expansion of perilobular septa populated with heterogeneous fibrogenic and immune cell populations. This study notably identified the accumulation of IBA1⁺ CD16^lo CD163^lo macrophages as a key marker of advanced liver disease. Created with BioRender.com.