Two populations of self-maintaining monocyte-independent macrophages exist in adult epididymis and testis
Ming Wang, Yalong Yang, Dilay Cansever, Yiming Wang, Crystal Kantores, Sébastien Messiaen, Delphine Moison, Gabriel Livera, Svetoslav Chakarov, Tobias Weinberger, Christopher Stremmel, Monika Fijak, Britta Klein, Christiane Pleuger, Zhe‐Xiong Lian, Wentao Ma, Qingzhi Liu, Kathrin Klee, Kristian Händler, Thomas Ulas, Andreas Schlitzer, Joachim L. Schultze, Burkhard Becher, Melanie Greter, Zhaoyuan Liu, Florent Ginhoux, Slava Epelman, Christian Schulz, Andreas Meinhardt, Sudhanshu Bhushan
Abstract
macrophage populations of epididymis and testis arise sequentially from yolk sac erythro-myeloid progenitors, embryonic hematopoiesis, and nascent neonatal monocytes. While monocytes were the major developmental source of both epididymal and testicular macrophages, both populations self-maintain in the steady-state independent of bone marrow hematopoietic precursors. However, after radiation-induced macrophage ablation or during infection, bone marrow-derived circulating monocytes are recruited to the epididymis and testis, giving rise to inflammatory macrophages that promote tissue damage. These results define the layered ontogeny, maintenance and inflammatory response of macrophage populations in the male reproductive organs.