Blood Monocytes: Development, Heterogeneity, and Relationship with Dendritic Cells

Monocytes are circulating blood leukocytes that play important roles in the inflammatory response, which is essential for the innate response to pathogens. But inflammation and monocytes are also involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, including atherosclerosis. In adult mice, monocytes originate in the bone marrow in a Csf-1R (MCSF-R, CD115)-dependent manner from a hematopoietic precursor common for monocytes and several subsets of macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). Mono...