ArticleThe Journal of clinical investigation2020
Transcription factor c-Maf is a checkpoint that programs macrophages in lung cancer.
Article in The Journal of clinical investigation, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 117 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
117 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 180 citations in OpenAlex.
- Advances in the research of the role of macrophage/microglia polarization-mediated inflammatory response in spinal cord injury.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- Spatial biology reveals altered macrophage states in immunosuppressed non-melanoma skin cancer.Cell · 2026Article
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- Dynamic remodeling of amino acid metabolism in tumor-associated macrophages: Fueling immunosuppression, reshaping tumor niches, and unlocking metabolic checkpoints.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- Scalable cell-specific coexpression networks for granular regulatory pattern discovery with NeighbourNet.Genome research · 2026Article
- Targeting LRPPRC lactylation disrupts metabolic-immune crosstalk and restores antitumor immunity in hepatocellular carcinoma.Translational cancer research · 2026Article
- Immune dysfunction in Alzheimer disease.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026Review
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- Inhibition of fatty acid-binding protein 4 alleviates psoriasis-like skin inflammation by modulating macrophage polarization.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Article
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- LILRB4 regulates circadian disruption-induced mammary tumorigenesis via non-canonical WNT signaling pathway.Oncogene · 2025Article
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- A human-mouse atlas of intrarenal myeloid cells identifies conserved disease-associated macrophages in lupus nephritis.The Journal of experimental medicine · 2025Article
- Spatial and multi-omic profiling reveals genes and pathways associated with cytotoxic lymphocyte infiltration in malignant rhabdoid tumor.Research square · 2025Article
- IL-6-C/EBPβ signaling drives monocytic differentiation of murine cultured lymphoid progenitors with immunoregulatory properties.Cell death & disease · 2025Article
- Single-Cell and Single-Nuclei transcriptomics profiling reveals dynamic cellular features in tumor-related adipose microenvironment of breast cancer patients with high BMI.Translational oncology · 2025Article
- Review
- KK2DP7 Stimulates CD11bAdvanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Role of M2 macrophage-derived exosomes in cancer drug resistance via noncoding RNAs.Discover oncology · 2025Review
57 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Macrophages have been linked to tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, and treatment resistance. However, the transcriptional regulation of macrophages driving the protumor function remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the transcription factor c-Maf is a critical controller for immunosuppressive macrophage polarization and function in cancer. c-Maf controls many M2-related genes and has direct binding sites within a conserved noncoding sequence of the Csf-1r gene and promotes M2-like macrophage-mediated T cell suppression and tumor progression. c-Maf also serves as a metabolic checkpoint regulating the TCA cycle and UDP-GlcNAc biosynthesis, thus promoting M2-like macrophage polarization and activation. Additionally, c-Maf is highly expressed in tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and regulates TAM immunosuppressive function. Deletion of c-Maf specifically in myeloid cells results in reduced tumor burden with enhanced antitumor T cell immunity. Inhibition of c-Maf partly overcomes resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy in a subcutaneous LLC tumor model. Similarly, c-Maf is expressed in human M2 and tumor-infiltrating macrophages/monocytes as well as circulating monocytes of human non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients and critically regulates their immunosuppressive activity. The natural compound β-glucan downregulates c-Maf expression on macrophages, leading to enhanced antitumor immunity in mice. These findings establish a paradigm for immunosuppressive macrophage polarization and transcriptional regulation by c-Maf and suggest that c-Maf is a potential target for effective tumor immunotherapy.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.