The control of gene expression in macrophages

Recent advances in high-throughput genomic technologies have allowed the definition of some fundamental principles underlying chromatin-mediated regulation of gene expression. In this context, macrophages have emerged as a paradigmatic cell population, whose analysis yielded principles widely applicable to multiple cellular systems. In this chapter we discuss the epigenetic and chromatin determinants of inducible transcription in macrophages, and how developmental and environmental inputs integrate at noncoding cis-regulatory elements to determine context-dependent gene expression. The resulting models provide a conceptual framework to understand the transcriptional foundations of macrophage functions in physiology and disease.