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Updated: May 19, 2026
Flow Cytometric Analysis for Identification of the Innate and Adaptive Immune Cells of Murine Lung
Published on: November 16, 2021
A method for quantifying pulmonary Legionella pneumophila infection in mouse lungs by flow cytometry
Desmond Koon Yong Ang1, Sze Ying Ong, Andrew Stephen Brown
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. angky@unimelb.edu.au
Background:
Pulmonary load of Legionella pneumophila in mice is normally determined by counting serial dilutions of bacterial colony forming units (CFU) on agar plates. This process is often tedious and time consuming. We describe a novel, rapid and versatile flow cytometric method that detects bacteria phagocytosed by neutrophils.
Findings:
Mice were infected with L. pneumophila via intratracheal or intranasal administration. At various times after bacteria inoculation, mouse lungs were harvested and analysed concurrently for bacterial load by colony counting and flow cytometry analysis. The number of L. pneumophila-containing neutrophils correlated strongly with CFU obtained by bacteriological culture.
Conclusions:
This technique can be utilised to determine pulmonary bacterial load and may be used in conjunction with other flow cytometric based analyses of the resulting immune response.
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