Highlights•Macrophage activation is best described by a multi-dimensional model.•Targeting
macrophages specifically requires a multi-modal approach.•Macrophage reprogramming
rather than deletion might be a future therapeutic avenue.•Transcriptional and epigenetic
control might be new drug targets in macrophages.Macrophages are key players of tissue
homeostasis and are cells involved in all major human diseases including infections,
tumors, western life-style associated diseases and even neurodegenerative diseases …