Functionally and metabolically divergent melanoma-associated macrophages originate from common bone-marrow precursors

Abstract

Melanomas display high numbers of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), which correlate with worse prognosis. Harnessing macrophages for therapeutic purposes has been particularly challenging due to their heterogeneity, based on their ontogeny and function and driven by the tissue-specific niche. In the present study, we used the YUMM1.7 model to better understand melanoma TAM origin and dynamics during tumor progression, with potential therapeutic implications. We identified distinct TAM subsets based on F4/80 expression, with the F4/80high fraction increasing over time and displaying tissue-resident-like phenotype. While skin-resident macrophages showed mixed on-togeny, F4/80+ TAM subsets in i.d. YUMM1.7 tumors originated almost exclusively from bone-marrow precursors. Mul-tiparametric analysis of macrophage phenotype showed a temporal divergence of F4/80+ TAM subpopulations, which also differed from skin-resident subsets, and from their monocytic precursors. Overall, F4/80+ TAMs displayed co-ex-pression of M1- and M2-like canonical markers, while RNA-seq and pathway analysis showed differential immunosup-pressive and metabolic profiles. GSEA showed F4/80high TAMs to rely on oxidative phosphorylation, with increased proliferation and protein secretion while F4/80low cells had high pro-inflammatory and intracellular signaling pathways, with lipid and polyamine metabolism. Overall, the present in-depth characterization provides further evidence of the ontogeny of the evolving melanoma TAMs, whose gene expression profiles matched recently-identified TAM clusters in other tumor models and human cancers. These findings provide evidence for potentially targeting specific immunosup-pressive TAMs in advanced tumor stages.