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Updated: Mar 23, 2026

In Vitro Stimulation and Visualization of Extracellular Trap Release in Differentiated Human Monocyte-derived Macrophages
Published on: November 1, 2019
[The efficiency of macrophage extracellular trap formation induced by different inducers in vitro]
Chengcheng Su1, Guoan Xiang1, Yongqiang Ma2
1Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Pingjin Hospital, Logistics University of the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, Tianjin 300162, China.
Objective:
To compare the different methods of inducing the formation of macrophage extracellular trap (MET) in vitro.
Methods:
MET release was initiated by culturing RAW264.7 cells with 0.5, 1, 5, 10 μg/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or 10, 25, 50, 80 μmol/L phorbolmyristate acetate (PMA), or 50, 100, 150 μg/mL silicon dioxide (SiO2). Three and 6 hours later, MET were validated by immunofluorescence staining, followed by immunofluorescence-based semi-quantitative analysis.
Results:
Immunofluorescence staining showed that the network structures were mainly composed of DNA and histones. RAW264.7 cells treated with 1 μg/mL LPS for 6 hours produced the highest percent of MET [(37.04±10.02)%], which was statistically higher compared with control group [(7.90±2.71)%]. RAW264.7 cells treated with 80 μmol/L PMA for 6 hours also produced the higher percent of MET [(22.40±1.83)%] compared with control group [(10.11±1.13)%]. However, there was no significantly increased MET formation in cells treated with SiO2 compared with control group.
Conclusion:
LPS and PMA can induce MET formation in vitro, while SiO2 was not efficient inducer.

