Prof Matt Sweet - A wander through the wonders of innate immunity: immunometabolic control of inflammatory and antimicrobial pathways in macrophages

Prof Matt Sweet

Matt Sweet
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The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

A wander through the wonders of innate immunity: immunometabolic control of inflammatory and antimicrobial pathways in macrophages

Over the last decade or more, immunometabolism research has revolutionised the field of immunology. It is now clear that specific metabolic pathways and the metabolites they produce profoundly affect immune cell functions, as well as downstream physiological and pathophysiological processes. This talk will discuss recent efforts to understand how metabolic organelles (mitochondria, lipid droplets), metabolic pathways (the pentose phosphate pathway), metabolites (ribulose-5-phosphate), and micronutrients (zinc) shape macrophage functions in the context of infection and inflammation.
Selected references
1\. Kapetanovic R et al. Mitochondrial fission mediates an evolutionarily conserved antibacterial defense response. Sci Immunol (2026). 11: eaed2623
2\. Von Pein JB et al. Bacterial reporter-paired scRNA sequencing reveals cross talk between zinc starvation and zinc toxicity in macrophage antibacterial defense. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2026). 123: e2530503123
3\. Sweet MJ et al. Inducible antibacterial responses in macrophages. Nat Rev Immunol (2025). 25: 92-107
4\. Das Gupta K et al. CFTR is required for zinc-mediated antibacterial defense in human macrophages. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2024). 121: e2315190121
5\. Das Gupta K et al. HDAC7 is an immunometabolic switch triaging danger signals for engagement of antimicrobial versus inflammatory responses in macrophages. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2023). 120: e2212813120