Transcriptional control of the inflammatory response

A key point of control of inflammation is at the level of transcription.In macrophages, which are key orchestrators of the inflammatory response, transcriptional control of inflammation enables the autonomous modulation of different functional programmes, such as cell migration, antimicrobial defence, tissue repair and phagocytosis.Three classes of transcription factors (constitutively expressed, inducible in a stimulus-dependent manner and lineage-specifying) have distinct but coordinated functions in regulating the inflammatory response in macrophages.The transcriptional response induced by Toll-like receptor signalling in macrophages is a well-studied model system for understanding transcriptional control of inflammation. This complex gene expression programme can be divided into a primary and secondary response, which are regulated by distinct mechanisms.Many physiological signals negatively regulate inflammation at the transcriptional level. This also enables the inhibition of distinct functional modules of the inflammatory response.