Chronic exposure to TGFb1 regulates myeloid cell inflammatory response in an IRF7-dependent manner

Tissue microenvironment influences the function of resident and infiltrating myeloid-derived cells. In the central nervous system (CNS), resident microglia and freshly recruited infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages (mo-MΦ) display distinct activities under pathological conditions, yet little is known about the microenvironment-derived molecular mechanism that regulates these differences. Here, we demonstrate that long exposure to transforming growth factor-b1 (TGFb1) impaired the ability of myeloid cells to acquire a resolving anti-inflammatory phenotype. Using genome-wide expression analysis and chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by next-generation sequencing, we show that the capacity to undergo proto anti-inflammatory (M1to-M2) phenotype switch is controlled by the transcription factor interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7) that is down-regulated by the TGFb1 pathway. RNAi-mediated perturbation of Irf7 inhibited the M1-to-M2 switch, while IFNb1 (an IRF7 pathway activator) restored it. In vivo induction of Irf7 expression in microglia, following spinal cord injury, reduced their pro-inflammatory activity. These results highlight the key role of tissue-specific environmental factors in determining the fate of resident myeloid-derived cells under both physiological and pathological conditions.