CFU-rAM, the origin of lung macrophages, and the macrophage lineage.

Macrophage precursors and their progeny have been identified in early rat embryos with the use of a peroxidase-coupled marker, isolectin B4 of Griffonia simplicifolia (GSA I-B4). The macrophage lineage can be traced back to actively dividing GSA-positive angular cells present in the mesenchyme of late neurulas. These increase in number and establish residence successively in rudiments of the central nervous system, liver, and lungs. In organ-cultured fetal lungs they transform directly into a self-replicating population of macrophages responsive to colony-stimulating factors. The angular cell therefore can be seen as the source of lung macrophages during prenatal life. The extent to which this manner of production continues in postnatal life is unclear, but it appears that central hematopoietic tissues (bone marrow, spleen) may generate macrophages by a direct pathway from early-committed progenitors as well as indirectly through a series of intermediate stem cells. Considering the wealth of new information available from diverse studies in specialized culture environments and to a lesser extent from studies in vivo, it is time to integrate these findings into a more comprehensive theory of macrophage origin and fate than we have at present.