An updated overview of lipid-regulated immunobiology in macrophages

Macrophages are well known for their widespread distribution, diverse roles, and involvement in multiple pathophysiological contexts, thereby constructing an immunological front line. Meanwhile, constant efforts over the past few decades have unveiled diverse reprogramming patterns of lipid metabolism as crucial, response- and context-specific drivers of macrophage functions and fate. Here, we take a bird’s-eye view of major fields across the research landscape of lipid-regulated macrophages; review the latest advances in understanding how alterations in several lipid subclasses, especially their fatty acyl composition and oxidative status, direct macrophage-mediated responses and pathology outcomes; and summarize representative insights that have deciphered the lipidome composition of macrophages or profiled specific lipid species under different scenarios. We hope that this review provides readers with a handy grip to learn and explore the field of lipid-regulated immunobiology, exemplified by but not limited to macrophages.