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Sci. Signal., 28 October 2008
Vol. 1, Issue 43, p. ra11
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.1159665]

RESEARCH

Editor's Summary

Setting the Stage for Fusion
DAP12 is an immunotyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM)–containing adaptor protein that interacts with various surface receptors to initiate downstream signaling processes. In the absence of functional DAP12, macrophages fail to fuse to form multinucleated giant cells, an enigmatic immune response involved in granulomatous conditions and the foreign body reaction. In vitro studies showed that DAP12, its associated receptor TREM-2, and the downstream protein tyrosine kinase Syk were all important for maximal fusion capacity of macrophages. In vivo, loss of DAP12 function resulted in the formation of fewer giant cells in response to implantation of a foreign body. Unexpectedly, loss of DAP12 appeared to alter the gene expression profile of the macrophages, rendering them less fusion competent, without compromising their apparent differentiation.

Citation: L. Helming, E. Tomasello, T. R. Kyriakides, F. O. Martinez, T. Takai, S. Gordon, E. Vivier, Essential Role of DAP12 Signaling in Macrophage Programming into a Fusion-Competent State. Sci. Signal. 1, ra11 (2008).

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