Fig. 3

pEXO treatment reprograms CD14⁺ monocytes to an M2 macrophage phenotype. A Heatmap showing M2 markers were elevated in pEXO-educated monocytes. B Upregulation of M2-macrophages markers, CD163, CD206, CD209, IL-10, IDO-1, CCL-2 and CCL-8; cell adhesion molecule ICAM-1 and down-regulation of antigen-presenting molecules HLA-DRA were validated by RT-qPCR. (N = 8). C pEXO promoted macrophage polarization toward an M2 phenotype in human monocyte-derived macrophages. Schematic illustration of the strategy of human monocyte-derived macrophage and treatment. To induce macrophages polarization, monocytes were treated with 50 ng/ml M-CSF for 7 days and the medium was refreshed on DAY 4. Cells were harvested after 24 h of treatment with 20 ug/ml pEXO on day 7. D Volcano plot of differential expressed genes of the pEXO-polarized macrophages. E Heatmap of 10 M2 markers in pEXO-polarized macrophages compared to control group. F Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) with published M2 macrophage signature gene set comparing pEXO-polarized and control macrophages. G M2 macrophage markers: CD163, CD206, CD209, IL-10, CCL-2, CCL-8, IDO-1, and HLA-DRA of pEXO-polarized and control macrophages were determined by RT-qPCR. Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 8–12). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 compared to the control group