Macrophage Polarisation as a Therapeutic Switch in Musculoskeletal Progenitor-Driven Repair

Tissue repair across muscle, tendon, cartilage, and bone depends on a tightly coordinated dialogue between immune cells and resident progenitor populations. Macrophage polarisation sits at the centre of this dialogue, determining whether the local environment drives functional regeneration or tips toward fibrosis, fatty infiltration, and impaired healing. Increasingly, this immune-progenitor crosstalk can be actively steered, through engineered biomaterials, piezoelectric and mechanical stimuli, nanotechnology, and paracrine and extracellular vesicle signalling, opening the possibility of treating macrophage state as a controllable therapeutic switch rather than a fixed backdrop to injury.This Research Topic brings together mechanistic and translational work exploring how reprogramming the immune microenvironment governs progenitor cell fate and musculoskeletal tissue regeneration. We welcome original research, reviews, and methodological perspectives addressing, but not limited to:Macrophage polarisation and its influence on muscle, tendon, cartilage, and bone progenitor cell fateBiomaterial-, piezoelectric-, and nanotechnology-guided modulation of the immune microenvironmentParacrine and extracellular vesicle–mediated crosstalk between macrophages and progenitor cellsMechanisms linking immune dysregulation to fibrosis, fatty infiltration, and failed regenerationFibro/adipogenic progenitor biology and its regulation by inflammatory signallingStem and progenitor cell heterogeneity in the macrophage-conditioned regenerative nicheMulti-omics and single-cell approaches to dissecting immune-progenitor interactions in repairTranslational strategies harnessing macrophage reprogramming for regenerative and tissue-engineering applicationsBy connecting immune cell biology with progenitor-driven repair, this Research Topic aims to clarify the mechanisms that determine regeneration versus degeneration, and to highlight strategies for steering these processes toward better functional outcomes. Topic editors: Yaying Sun, Ekin Çelik Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85225/macrophage-polarisation-as-a-therapeutic-switch-in-musculoskeletal-progenitor-driven-repair