BACH1 orchestrates macrophage state transitions to coordinate regenerative inflammation

Caballero-Sánchez, Noemí and Tzerpos, Petros and Bene, Krisztián and Halász, László and Bojcsuk, Dóra and Nagy, Gergely and Ali, Maysaa A. and Cseh, Tímea and Póliska, Szilárd and Borok, Matthew J. and Scherer, Jordan and Relaix, Frederic and Saez, Enrique and Czimmerer, Zsolt and Patsalos, Andreas and Nagy, László (2026) BACH1 orchestrates macrophage state transitions to coordinate regenerative inflammation. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 215 (6). No. vkag101. ISSN 0022-1767

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Abstract

Efficient tissue regeneration requires the precise coordination of inflammatory and regenerative programs, principally mediated by monocyte-derived macrophages. However, the transcriptional wiring and epigenomic processes behind complex macrophage subtype specification and transition between the different states are not known. Here we have identified the transcriptional repressor BACH1 as a critical, cell-intrinsic regulator of monocyte-derived macrophage specification during skeletal muscle regeneration. Using a myeloid-specific BACH1 knockout mouse model, we demonstrate that BACH1 deficiency disrupts the temporal coordination of monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation, leading to aberrant macrophage subsets with concurrent opposing pro- and anti-inflammatory features. Single-cell RNA-sequencing profiling reveals that BACH1 controls a core transcriptional network, including Nfkb1, Cebpb, and interferon signaling, governing inflammatory resolution and functional macrophage specialization. Mechanistically, BACH1 loss accelerates macrophage differentiation but also affects its core cellular identity, resulting in sustained, rather than declining inflammatory programs including upregulation of Il1b and thus, defective tissue remodeling. These immune alterations compromise the paracrine landscape during regenerative inflammation and impair muscle stem cell differentiation. Our findings establish BACH1 as a molecular tuner or controller that integrates early innate immune signaling with regenerative output, positioning it as a central node linking transcriptional control, immune fate decisions, and tissue repair.

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