A Conserved Chromatin-Driven Checkpoint Defines Late Macrophage Maturation Independent of Tissue Specialization

Abstract

Macrophage identity is widely viewed as a product of ontogeny and tissue-specific imprinting. Here, we identify a conserved, chromatin-driven maturation checkpoint that operates independently of initial lineage commitment and broadly across tissue contexts. Using long-term bone marrow-derived macrophage cultures, we uncover a late-stage transition characterized by coordinated transcriptional and epigenomic remodeling. Integration with in vivo developmental, tissue-resident, and monocyte-repopulation datasets demonstrates that this program is conserved across ontogenies, tissues, species, and experimental systems, revealing a previously unrecognized stage of macrophage maturation. Functionally, late maturation preserves core macrophage activities while promoting lysosomal expansion and fundamentally rewiring innate immune responsiveness. Mature macrophages display enhanced stimulus-specific responses to interferons and microbial danger signals, coupled to increased metabolic and inflammatory competence while restricting interferon-induced transcriptional memory. Together, our findings identify late macrophage maturation as a conserved regulatory checkpoint that reprograms the logic of innate immune responsiveness through chromatin remodeling shaping innate immune function.