Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41608581›Full record

ReviewTheranostics2026

Targeting efferocytosis for tissue regeneration: From microenvironment reprogramming to clinical translation.

Yunzhu Li, Peiyu Li, Jiayi Song, Xue Zhang, Haitao Xiao, Ru Wang, Zhenyu Duan, Kui Luo, Xuewen Xu

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Theranostics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Immunomodulatory Nanozymes as Programmable Redox-Immune Set-Point Regulators.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Caerin 1.1/1.9 peptides controlFrontiers in microbiology · 2026
    Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Yunzhu LiDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Peiyu LiDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Jiayi SongDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Xue ZhangDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Haitao XiaoDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Ru WangDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Zhenyu DuanDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Kui LuoDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Xuewen XuDepartment of Plastic and Burn Surgery, Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Institution of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Rehabilitation Therapy, Institute of Breast Health Medicine, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-Related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Efferocytosis, phagocytic clearance of apoptotic cells (ACs), is an essential biological process that resolves inflammation and regulates tissue regeneration in various organ systems. Through removal of apoptotic cell debris, efferocytosis attenuates secondary necrosis and dampens the release of damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). More importantly, it can reprogram phagocytes towards a pro-reparative phenotype via the secretion of anti-inflammatory mediators, metabolic rewiring, and the production of growth factors. There are four closely regulated stages in the entire process: "find-me" signal-mediated phagocyte recruitment, recognition of ACs via "eat-me" signals, AC internalization via Rho GTPase-dependent actin remodeling, and phagolysosomal degradation of ACs by either canonical or light chain 3 (LC3)-associated phagocytosis (LAP). In a repair context, efferocytosis may refer to the clearance of dying cells during various tissue repair processes, such as wound healing, liver injury, myocardial infarction, intestinal damage, kidney injury and muscle injury. Efferocytosis regulates inflammation resolution, stem/progenitor cell activation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and angiogenesis to coordinate tissue repair. Chronic pathology (e.g., diabetic ulcers, fibrosis) induced by dysfunctional efferocytosis results from accumulation of non-phagocytosed ACs that maintain inflammation and impair regeneration. Therapeutic strategies targeting dysfunctional efferocytosis have been developed, encompassing active pharmaceutical ingredients, biologics, and biomaterials-assisted therapeutic modalities. Despite promising outcomes from preclinical studies, challenges still exist in the spatiotemporal control and clinical translation of these therapeutic strategies. Future research could focus on the multi-omics integration and smart biomaterial development to dynamically modulate efferocytosis during different disease phases.

Indexed as

EfferocytosisRegenerationAnimalsApoptosisHumansInflammationPhagocytosisbiomaterialsefferocytosisinflammation resolutionmacrophagetissue regeneration

Identifiers

PMID41608581
PMCPMC12846749

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.