A novel role for mitochondrial fission in macrophages: trained innate immunity induced by beta-glucan

Abstract

In a recent paper published in Nature Immunology, Ding et al. provided new insights into the mechanism of how trained innate immunity could eradicate cancer. The authors demonstrated that yeast-derived whole beta-glucan particles (WGP) increased the responsiveness of lung interstitial macrophages to tumor-derived factors associated with the subsequent inhibition of tumor metastasis through enhanced cytotoxicity to cancer cells. The authors identified the metabolic sphingolipid–mitochondrial fission axis in WGP-trained macrophages as the key pathway responsible for this phenomenon and categorized it as a mechanism of trained innate immunity [ 1 ].

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