Project description:Earlier work has shown that macrophages derived from differentiation of monocytes by heat killed (HK) mycobacteria (e.g. M. obuense) exhibit unique immunophenotypic and molecular properties. Yet, our knowledge of these properties is still limited. The goal of the study is to understand global gene expression programs that are differentially modulated in macrophages derived from monocytes that were differentiated through three different routes: in presence of M-CSF, GM-CSF and the heat killed mycobacterium M. obuense. We performed RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) of monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) that were acquired from four separate healthy donors and differentiated by incubation with M-CSF (M-MDM), GM-CSF (GM-MDM) and HK M. obuense (Mob-MDM) (n = 12 samples). We report that Mob-MDM exhibit unique gene expression programs that may explain its unique immunophenotypic properties and thus immunomodulatory capacity.