Compared to other viral approaches for in vivo gene manipulation in macrophages, the use of lentiviral vectors offers a stable integration of the transgenic tissue macrophages, efficient transgene expression, and the largest vector size limit. When employing in vivo lentiviral manipulation of metabolic enzymes, we discovered notable functional changes in tissue resident macrophages. Therefore, we are currently investigating immuno metabolism and its role in preserving tissue specific functions, including the epigenetics and immune function.
In the future, we would like to focus on defining how tissue macrophages affect other local cell populations during homeostasis and in disease models, and how these interactions can be employed for disease prevention and resolution.
