Liver-Derived Signals Sequentially Reprogram Myeloid Enhancers to Initiate and Maintain Kupffer Cell Identity

Tissue environment plays a powerful role in establishing and maintaining the distinct phenotypes of resident macrophages, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we characterized transcriptomic and epigenetic changes in repopulating liver macrophages following acute Kupffer cell depletion as a means to infer signaling pathways and transcription factors that promote Kupffer cell differentiation. We obtained evidence that combinatorial interactions of the Notch ligand DLL4 and transforming growth factor-b (TGF-β) family ligands produced by sinusoidal endothelial cells and endogenous LXR ligands were required for the induction and maintenance of Kupffer cell identity. DLL4 regulation of the Notch transcriptional effector RBPJ activated poised enhancers to rapidly induce LXRα and other Kupffer cell lineage-determining factors. These factors in turn reprogrammed the repopulating liver macrophage enhancer landscape to converge on that of the original resident Kupffer cells. Collectively, these findings provide a framework for understanding how macrophage progenitor cells acquire tissue-specific phenotypes

Niche-Specific Reprogramming of Epigenetic Landscapes Drives Myeloid Cell Diversity in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Tissue-resident and recruited macrophages contribute to both host defense and pathology. Multiple macrophage phenotypes are represented in diseased tissues, but we lack deep understanding of mechanisms controlling diversification. Here, we investigate origins and epigenetic trajectories of hepatic macrophages during diet-induced non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The NASH diet induced significant changes in Kupffer cell enhancers and gene expression, resulting in partial loss of Kupffer cell identity, induction of Trem2 and Cd9 expression, and cell death. Kupffer cell loss was compensated by gain of adjacent monocyte-derived macrophages that exhibited convergent epigenomes, transcriptomes, and functions. NASH-induced changes in Kupffer cell enhancers were driven by AP-1 and EGR that reprogrammed LXR functions required for Kupffer cell identity and survival to instead drive a scar-associated macrophage phenotype. These findings reveal mechanisms by which disease-associated environmental signals instruct resident and recruited macrophages to acquire distinct gene expression programs and corresponding functions