Mannose-modified tobacco mosaic virus-mediated macrophage regulation inhibits pulmonary fibrosis progression.

Authors

Jiaodan Jin, Ren Xu, Huaixiu Fu, Wei Qian, Yu Liu, Jinzhao Ou, Meng Zhu, Yunzhi Zhou, Ye Tian, Zhongwei Niu

Published in

Journal of materials chemistry. B. Aug 03, 2026. Epub Aug 03, 2026.

Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic disease, causing irreversible lung scarring and respiratory failure. CD206⁺ M2 macrophages play a key role in its progression. In this study, we utilize the pro-inflammatory properties of plant viruses to develop a mannose-modified tobacco mosaic virus nanoparticle (TMV-OEG8-Man), which targets and reprograms profibrotic macrophages to inhibit IPF. TMV-OEG8-Man alters the CD206⁺ M2 macrophage phenotype in vitro, suppressing profibrotic genes (Mrc1, Spp1, Ccr2) and signaling pathways (MAPK, TGF-beta, PI3K-Akt, mTOR, Wnt), thereby reducing the transition of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts. When administered via aerosol, TMV-OEG8-Man achieves prolonged lung retention with minimal systemic exposure. In mice with bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis, a single dose during fibroproliferation attenuated fibrosis progression, increasing survival rate from 50% to 100%, and preserving lung architecture. This study establishes plant viral nanoparticles as a macrophage reprogramming strategy with therapeutic potential for organ fibrosis.

PMID:
42544440
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 03 Aug 2026.

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